Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (born at 11 February 1776 – died at 9 October 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias was a Greek Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire and one of the most distinguished politicians and diplomats of Europe. After a long career in European politics and diplomacy he was elected as the first head of state of independent Greece (1827–33) and he is considered the founder of the modern Greek State, and the founder of Greek independence.

In 1831, Kapodistrias ordered the imprisonment of Petrobey Mavromichalis, the Bey of the Mani Peninsula, one of the wildest and most rebellious parts of Greece. This was a mortal offence to the Mavromichalis family, and on October 9, 1831 (September 27 in the Julian Calendar) Kapodistrias was assassinated by Petrobey's brother Konstantis and son Georgios on the steps of the church of Saint Spyridon in Nafplion.