Vasilios Vatatzes.

About Vasilios Vatatzes

Vasileios Vatatzes, was a Greek figure who flourished in the 18th century. He is best remembered as a scholar, merchant, traveler, pioneer explorer and diplomat. At a young age, he settled in Moscow, from where he travelled to Iran on several occasions. He eventually became acquainted with Nader-Qoli Beg and spent considerable time close to him. Vatatzes wrote a biography in Greek about Nader Shah, known as the Persika, an important work which provides information about Iran in the 1720s, 1730s and 1740s. He also wrote a travel account, the Periegetikon, and drew a map. According to Evangelos Venetis, Vatatzes was "an admirer of Persian civilization and of Nader Shah's rule" and an "important author for Iranian history and Hellenic-Iranian studies". However, his works "have been largely ignored by modern scholarship".