Principality of Samos
| Principality of Samos | ||||||||||
| Ἡγεμονία τῆς Σάμου | ||||||||||
| Autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty | ||||||||||
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 Location of Principality of Samos
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| Capital | Chora, later Vathy | |||||||||
| Languages | Greek | |||||||||
| Religion | Greek Orthodoxy, Sunni Islam | |||||||||
| Government | Principality | |||||||||
| Prince of Samos | ||||||||||
| • | 1834–1850 | Stefan Bogoridi | ||||||||
| • | 1912 | Grigorios Vegleris | ||||||||
| Legislature | Assembly of Samos | |||||||||
| • | Upper house | Senate | ||||||||
| • | Lower house | Chamber of Deputies | ||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Established | 1834 | ||||||||
| • | Official act of Union with Greece | 1912 | ||||||||
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The island of Samos had participated in the Greek War of Independence and had successfully resisted several Turkish and Egyptian attempts to occupy it, but it was not included with the boundaries of the newly independent Kingdom of Greece after 1832. Instead, in 1834 the island was granted self-government as a semi-independent state, the Principality of Samos (Greek: Ἡγεμονία τῆς Σάμου).
Tributary to the Ottoman Empire, paying the annual sum of £2700, it was governed by a Christian of Greek descent though nominated by the Porte, who bore the title of "Prince". The prince was assisted in his function as chief executive by a 4-member senate. These were chosen by him out of eight candidates nominated by the four districts of the island: Vathy, Chora, Marathokampos, and Karlovasi. The actual legislative power belonged to a chamber of 36 deputies, presided over by the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan. The seat of the government was the port of Vathy.
With the outbreak of the First Balkan War, Themistoklis Sofoulis landed on the island with a group of exiled Samians and swiftly took control: the Ottoman garrison withdrew to Anatolia, and on 11/24 November 1912, the island's parliament officially declared union with Greece. The unification took place officially on 2 March 1913.
During the Greek War of Independence Samos bore a conspicuous part, forming its own autonomous administration under the leadership of Lykourgos Logothetis. It was in the strait between the island and Mount Mycale that Konstantinos Kanaris set fire to and blew up a Turkish frigate, in the presence of the army that had been assembled for the invasion of the island, a success that led to the abandonment of the enterprise, and Samos held its own to the very end of the war. On the conclusion of peace the island was again handed over to the Turks, but since 1835 has held an exceptionally advantageous position, being in fact self-governed, though tributary to the Turkish empire, and ruled by a Greek governor nominated by the Sublime Porte, who bore the title of "Prince of Samos", but is supported and controlled by a Greek council and assembly.
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