John Celivergos Zachos (Greek: Ιωάννης Καλίβεργος Ζάχος; December 20, 1820 – March 20, 1898) was a Greek-American physician, literary scholar, elocutionist, author, lecturer, inventor, and educational pioneer. He was an early proponent of equal education rights for African Americans and women. During the American Civil War, he was the superintendent at Port Royal and a main figure in the Port Royal Experiment. In his book, Phonic Primer and Reader he developed a special system to educate freed slaves. He advocated and expanded the oratory systems of François Delsarte and James Rush. He was born in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) to Greek parents. Both his parents participated in the Greek War of Independence and migrated to Greece after the outbreak of war. His father died during the war and he was given to Samuel Gridley Howe by his mother. He was a young refugee traveling to the United States of America. In America, he was educated at Mount Pleasant Classical Institute and one of his teachers included Gregory Anthony Perdicaris. At the academy, he also met Chauncey Colton whom he followed around the country to different educational institutions; one was outside of Philadelphia and the latter was Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Zachos attended Kenyon College and graduated with honors and also obtained a medical degree but did not practice medicine because of his love for literature and teaching. He became an Army surgeon during the American Civil War serving primarily at Port Royal. Zachos became a Unitarian Minister, briefly taught at Cornell, and finally settled in New York City where he was the curator of the library at Cooper Union and a professor at the institution until his death. He was the fourth honorary member of the National Association of Elocutionists. Zachos was one of the founders of the Beta Theta Pi Society, the Literary Club of Cincinnati, and the Ohio Society of New York. He developed the Zachos Method which is outlined in his book The New American Speaker. The technique uses an acting method for public speech and the book features a large assortment of Shakespearean monologues. As an inventor, he invented the stenotype. His nephew George Canfield Blickensderfer later invented the blickensderfer typewriter. Zachos's daughter Helena Zachos continued his work as a prominent elocutionist. The Helena Zachos Award at Wells College was named after her. He died in New York City at 77 years old.
Early life Zachos was born in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. His parents were Nicholas and Euphrosyne Zachos. They were from Athens. Nicholas Zachos was a general in the Greek army during the Greek War of Independence, where he was killed in battle in 1824. Samuel Gridley Howe an American surgeon and Philhellene was also fighting for Greek independence. He brought John Celivergos Zachos along with other young Greek people back to the United States to educate them. Namely traveling with Zachos and Howe was a young refugee who survived the Chios massacre named Christophoros Castanes. In 1851, he wrote a book on his travels called The Greek Exile, Or, a Narrative of the Captivity and Escape of Christophorus Plato Castanis. This book includes John C. Zachos and other Greek children.
Education and marriage In 1830, Zachos was in the United States. He was placed in Mount Pleasant Classical Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts with Christophorus P. Castanis and other Greek children. Their instructors were Gregory Anthony Perdicaris and Petros Mengous and the assistant principal and founder was Chauncey Colton D. D. Zachos later traveled to an Episcopalian institution twenty miles north of Philadelphia. Bristol Manual Labor College, Dr Colton was the founder and President it combined manual labor and study. He remained there from 1833 to 1836. By 1837 Zachos again followed Dr. Colton to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Chauncey Colton D. D. took a position as Professor of Homiletics at the institution. Zachos's classmates included Rutherford B. Hayes and Stanley Matthews. He graduated from the institution in 1840 with honors. Zachos gave two commencement speeches one was in Classical Greek and the other was in English. As a young adult, he was noted for fine speaking, and he won prizes whenever he competed. He was the founder of the Society of Kenyon College. By now, Zachos and Matthews were close friends and the two lived together in Cincinnati, Matthews's hometown. Matthews pursued a law degree under Salmon P. Chase and Zachos was a teacher, while he continued a graduate Degree at Kenyon College. Colton also traveled to Cincinnati. He founded a few schools where Professor Zachos also taught. By 1843, Zachos finished his second degree from Kenyon College. By now Zachos enrolled in Medical School under the prominent Dr. Reuben D. Mussey where he continued his studies for three years. By the late 1840s, Zachos decide not to practice medicine due to his love for teaching and literature. Zachos, Stanley Matthews, Ainsworth Rand Spofford, and nine others founded the Literary Club of Cincinnati in 1849. One year later Rutherford B. Hayes became a member. Other prominent members included William Howard Taft and notable club guests Ralph Waldo Emerson, Booker T. Washington, Mark Twain, and Robert Frost. He married Harriet Tompkins Canfield Zachos on July 26, 1849. Harriet Tompkins was born on January 15, 1824, to George Washington Canfield and Catherine A Clark. Harriet's second cousin John Caldwell Canfield married Ella Todd, Abraham Lincoln's niece. Harriet Canfield and John Zachos had six children born between 1850 and 1865. His daughter Mary Helena Zachos became an American college professor and elocutionist. His son Ainsworth was named after close friend and abolitionist Ainsworth Rand Spofford.
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