Thomas Paschidis: The Neomartyr of Hellenism and Orthodoxy

Fotis Schoinas November 2, 2025

Thomas Paschidis (1836–1890) stands as one of the most luminous yet tragically overlooked figures of 19th-century Hellenism and Orthodoxy. A scholar, educator, journalist, patriot, and neomartyr, Paschidis sacrificed his life for faith and fatherland, refusing to apostatize from Christ before his Ottoman captors. His martyr’s death in the deserts of Libya places him alongside the ancient martyrs, while his multifaceted contributions remain a model of selfless devotion.

Born in 1836 in Ioannina—where the echoes of the 1821 Greek Revolution still lingered—Paschidis was the son of Athanasios, a Thessalian veteran who had fought under Georgios Karaiskakis. He studied at the renowned Zosimaia School until 1852, then taught in Berat. In 1854, amid the Crimean War and uprisings in Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia, he volunteered for the battlefield. Later, he studied philosophy in Lamia, Athens, and Naples (1859).

In 1860, in Bucharest, he published the Akolouthia and Life of Saint Kosmas the Aëtolian, the hieromartyr martyred in Albania in 1779. In its preface, he wrote:

“In the middle of the past century, this new luminary of the Church appeared in the enslaved lands of Greece… Called by the Lord to preach His Holy Gospel, I, humble eyewitness by God’s providence of his sacred relics and miracles, have compiled this service… as a token of gratitude to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles and Hieromartyr Kosmas, the unshakeable pillar in Albania against the religion of the Hagarenes…”

There, with Zacharias Sardelis, he launched the weekly Iris, inspired by Rigas Velestinlis’s vision of Pan-Balkan cooperation.

During the 1866 Cretan Revolution, Paschidis gave his entire fortune to the cause—raising funds, writing poetry, and campaigning tirelessly. A fierce opponent of Pan-Slavism, he traveled the East and Egypt in 1870, denouncing Russian influence even on Mount Athos.

Back in Bucharest, he founded a Greek school of exceptional quality. Fluent in Romanian and French, he was a staunch defender of purist (katharevousa) Greek. In 1874, he launched the weekly Dekevalos (renamed Athena in 1875), a platform for militant journalism in defense of Orthodoxy, Hellenism, and—remarkably for his era—women’s emancipation from seclusion. As Alkis Manthos noted:

“He held women in boundless esteem and fought for their liberation from the gynaeceum. His articles astonish when one considers the era and prevailing attitudes.”

In 1875, he delivered an inspired speech in French at Florence’s celebrations for Michelangelo’s 400th anniversary.

From 1887–1888, in Constantinople, he wrote and agitated for Greek and Orthodox rights—until betrayed by a pro-Turkish, pro-Papist informant, A. Margaritis. Arrested in May 1888 alongside fellow patriot N. Filippidis, Paschidis began a via dolorosa that ended in martyrdom.

Held without trial after a sham interrogation, the two were separated in prison, unaware of each other’s fate until a chance courtyard meeting. Paschidis’s younger brother Konstantinos, visiting him, was also arrested. In Athens, public outrage sparked protests, fundraisers, and diplomatic efforts—all in vain.

In February 1889, the prisoners sailed aboard the Hassan Pasha for Africa. After Benghazi and Tripoli, they were sent to Fezzan—1,500 km into the Sahara, an Ottoman “Guantanamo” for the most dangerous dissidents. As diplomat Fotini Tomai wrote:

“Rarely did anyone leave Fezzan alive. Prisoners vanished in secrecy, without charge or trial.”

There, Paschidis endured unimaginable torment to renounce Christ and convert to Islam. He refused. His own handwritten statement records:

“…he suffered unheard-of torments to abandon our precious Christian faith.”

Filippidis, the sole survivor, later recounted the final horror near the village of Saba:

“They maddened the camels until they bolted wildly, throwing us to the ground again and again. Though Paschidis was less injured, the bloodthirsty Arabs—following the Mutasarrif’s murderous order from Murzuk—brutally killed him. Through the reed wall of the hut, I heard them offer him Islam. With holy horror, he rejected their vile proposal, saying: ‘Muhammad is a false prophet; only Jesus Christ is true.’ These were his last words. Then I lost my beloved friend, my faithful co-martyr in the vast, sandy deserts of the Sahara.”

Thomas Paschidis died on July 23, 1890, and was buried the next day.

His literary output was prodigious: patriotic poetry, plays, travelogues, theological works, historical studies, and socio-political essays. As Fr. Theoklitos Dionysiatis wrote:

“It would be an unforgivable omission not to note that Paschidis was not merely a national martyr, but a martyr of Christ… rejecting Islam with sacred horror, he declared: ‘Muhammad is a false prophet; only Jesus Christ is true.’”

The Epirote poet Christos Christovasilis honored him in verse, envisioning two birds—one Rigas, one Paschidis—perching atop Hagia Sophia, weeping for enslaved Greece, then flying apart: one to the Danube, the other to Fezzan.

Paschidis was a titan of spirit and action. Through pen, classroom, and sacrifice, he served the Greek nation with apostolic zeal. Above all, he died in martyrdom for Christ—a neomartyr whose blood still cries out from the Libyan sands.

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Sources [1] Alkis Manthos, Epirote Journalists in Romania: Thomas Paschidis (Athens, 1970), pp. 11–12 [2–7, 9–11] I.M. Chatzifotis, Th.A. Paschidis (Athens, 1974) [8] Fotini Tomai, “Fezzan of Barbary… A Guantanamo for Greeks” [12] Fr. Theoklitos Dionysiatis, Athonikoi Dialogoi