Lucca Vaya
Lucca Vaya,[1] also referred as Loukas Vaya,[2] Lluka (Luka) Vaja,[3][4] Loukas Vagias (Greek: Λουκάς Βάγιας[5]) was a physician, and participant in the Greek War of Independence. He is remembered as the personal doctor of Ali Pasha, the Phanariote nobleman Alexandros Mavrokordatos, and Lord Byron.[6]
Biography
Lucca was born in the village of Lekël in Lunxhëri region, then Pashalik of Yanina, Ottoman Empire, today Tepelenë District, Albania.[7]
He was the younger brother of Thanasis Vagias, chief commander of Ali Pasha. They had two other brothers, Joan and Kristakis.[7] According to some sources, Lucca's (and Thanasis') intrigues were the main driver for Vangjel Meksi to leave Ali Pasha's cabinet and escape to Corfu.[3]
Lucca married the daughter of Athanasios Psalidas, one of the main representatives of the Modern Greek Enlightenment and member of Ali Pasha's council.[4] He is mentioned as an excellent doctor, studied in Wien, Austrian Empire.
According to Henry Holland he was Greek.[8] Lucca Vaya joined the Greek Revolution and gave immense contribution during the Third Siege of Missolonghi. He was buried in Argos.[4]
References
- Julius Millingen (1831). "V". Greek Memoirs. VirginiaTech University. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
...Having sent for his friend Dr. Lucca Vaya...
- Edna O'Brien (June 14, 2010). Byron in Love: A Short Daring Life (Reprint ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. p. 203. ISBN 978-0393338478.
...the fever had worsened and two more doctors were summoned: a doctor Loukas Vaya, who once had been physician to Ali Pasha,...
- Aida Tuci (2013-08-24), Xhevat Lloshi zbulon dokumente të reja për botimin e parë të Dhiatës së Re në shqip [Xhevat Lloshi reveals new documents for the first edition of the New Testament in Albanian] (in Albanian), MAPO Online, archived from the original on 2013-09-27, retrieved 2013-09-24,
...Luka Vaja ishte dhe ai mjek i Aliut...[Luka Vaja was a physician to Ali...]
- Miltiadh Muçi (May 2009), LLUKË VAJA, mjeku i Ali Pashë Tepelenës, që shëroi lordin anglez Bajron [Lluka Vaja, Ali Pasha's physician, who cured the English Lord Byron] (in Albanian), 50, "Odria" Newspaper, retrieved 2013-09-24,
...After the collapse of the Pashalik of Ioannina, the Greek victory, he would become prime minister of Greece. His daughter married Luke Vaja, when both served in the Courtyard of Ali Pasha....
- Μ. Πρωτοσυγκέλλου Αθηναγόρα, Ηπειρωτικαί σελίδες Τεύχος Α΄ - Θανάσης Βάγιας (Βιβλίον δεύτερον), Τύποις Αριστοβούλου, Αναστασιάδου και Σας., Κωνσταντινούπολις 1922, p. 121.
- Loukas Veya, VirginiaTech University, Lord Byron Catalog Library, retrieved 2013-09-24
- Miltiadh Muçi (April 2010), Lekëljotët në Pashallëkun e Janinës [Lekliotes in the Pashalik of Yanina] (in Albanian), 54, "Odria" Newspaper, retrieved 2013-09-24,
Two of the four brothers Vaja have served with dedication, as friends and activists of Ali Pasha. All were educated in colleges and universities all over Europe, but most particularly was Luke, Kristaq and Jani as well.
- Henry Holland M.D. F.R.S., Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia, Etc. During the Years 1812 and 1813, London 1816, p. 256.