Filiki Eteria
19th-century secret society opposing Ottoman rule in Greece
Filiki Eteria (Greek: Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία, romanized: Filikī́ Etaireía) or Society of Friends (Greek: Ἑταιρεία τῶν Φιλικῶν, romanized: Etaireía tôn Filikôn) was a secret political and revolutionary organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule in Greece and establish an independent Greek State. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Constantinople and the Russian Empire, local political and military leaders from the Greek mainland and islands, as well as several Orthodox Christian leaders from other nations that were under Hellenic influence, such as Karađorđe from Serbia, and Tudor Vladimirescu from Romania. One of its leaders was the prominent Phanariote Prince Alexander Ypsilantis. The Society initiated the Greek War of Independence in the spring of 1821.
Translations and transliterations
The direct translation of the word "Φιλική" is "Friendly" and the direct translation of "Ἑταιρεία" is "Society", "Company" or "Association"). The common transliteration "Filiki Eteria" reflects the pronunciation of the name in modern Greek. Other possible transliterations are "Filike Etaireia", which reflects Greek orthography, and "Philike Hetaireia", which reflects the ancient Greek etymology. The word "friendly" here is meant to connote allies who work towards the same goal, not necessarily those who socialize together.
Foundation
In the context of ardent desire for independence from Turkish occupation, and with the explicit influence of similar secret societies elsewhere in Europe, three Greeks came together in 1814 in Odessa to decide the constitution for a secret organization in freemasonic fashion. Its purpose was to unite all Greeks in an armed organization to overthrow Turkish rule.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q634186. VIAF identifies the subject as 140390086. The Library of Congress control number is n84084614. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1814 and 1821.
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This entry incorporates text from “Filiki Eteria” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.