Kechriotis|301However, Carolidis spent much of his energy and time in a continuous con-
flict with another historian, Spyridon Lambros (1851–1919), whom he accused of
trying to undermine his position by always supporting his opponents. Some ar-
gue that, beyond particularities of personal character, such as Carolidis’s volatile
temper, this conflict was a struggle for both scientific and social prestige that led
two different worlds to clash. Lambros, on the one hand, was the scion of a well-
known family from Greece, a member of several associations in Athens, and very
much involved in the social and intellectual life of the capital. On the other hand,
Carolidis was an Ottoman subject from Cappadocia who always maintained a
close attachment to his hometown, as reflected in his early works. His recogni-
tion by his compatriots was reflected in his election to the board of several asso-
ciations established by Greeks originating from Αsia Μinor and Anatolia. Such
activity rendered him vulnerable to critical comments about his ethnic origins.
Descriptions such as “protesting Cappadocian” or “of Turkish roots” aimed to
marginalize and isolate him. Despite these personal attacks, Carolidis described
his life in Athens in the following way:
Through my conscientious and diligent work at the university, albeit originat-
ing in Asia Minor and a foreigner and alone here, I managed to create around
me an intellectual society of professors and other people knowledgeable in
their fields grateful to me, devoted listeners and full of sympathy.A Hellene in Smyrna
In 1908, Georgios Baltatzis (1868–1922) was the Hellenic minister of foreign affairs
and a member of one of the most famous Smyrniot families. He had been one of
Carolidis’s former students in the evangelical school and a friend. Baltatzis had
considerable experience in Ottoman state affairs, as he had served previously as
secretary in Istanbul’s Greek embassy. He told Carolidis that the Greek Smyrniot
population had unanimously decided to support his nomination as a deputy.
The history professor, after some consideration, accepted the offer after re-
ceiving guarantees that he would not lose his position or his salary at the univer-
sity. Besides the abrupt shift from the life of a quiet academician to the challenges
of a contentious political environment, Carolidis had to deal with two major is-
sues deriving from his unclear nationality status. He had fled Smyrna when he
was young without permission of the Ottoman authorities and had worked for
more than twenty years as a professor at a university abroad, writing frequently
in defense of the rights of Hellenism in the Ottoman Empire and criticizing the
Ottoman government. In political terms, these were not positive credentials for
someone who wished to be welcomed by the Ottoman government and his Mus-
lim peers in parliament. Moreover, he had been granted Greek nationality and
thus was under oath to the king of the Hellenes. As an Ottoman deputy, on the