Konstantinos Kanaris, the legendary fire ship captain of the Struggle, who was celebrated by the poets of his time more than anyone else, became a symbol of the unconquered spirit for Hellenism.

Together with the fire ship, this unique weapon that required intelligence and bravery, it symbolizes the heroism and composure that the Revolution needed to prevail. Here, now an old man, invited aboard the Russian flagship, he recounts his legendary feats at sea to the officers and sailors of the ship, who hang on his every word.

“We sailed through the night like spirits. At times we got so close that we could see the movement on the ships and hear the voices. In front of us were ten or twelve frigates and further back a gigantic vessel, lit up like a Christmas tree, with a crowd on board like a million! That must be the flagship, I thought to myself, and I shivered. Its two decks sparkled, and men dressed in gold roamed about on it.”

The "Portraits" series from Patakis Publications, in collaboration with the novelist and historian Maria Skiadaresi, aims to introduce children, and not only them, in a narrative way, to figures who laid the foundations for Greece to become a state among those of the modern world.

These individuals, inherently unique, experienced moments of greatness and exaltation in their tumultuous lives, as well as moments of pain and despair. Some of these instances are chosen here as a reason to write, for each of them separately, a story like a novel that will captivate and move the reader.

The main literary text is enriched with a glossary and historical testimonies and is complemented by the biography or the bibliography of the individual, as well as essential bibliographical references.