Iakovos Argyropoulos (Greek: Ιάκωβος Αργυρόπουλος; 1776–1850), known in Turkish as Yakovaki Efendi,[1] was a Phanariote official and scholar in the service of the Ottoman Empire.
Iakovos Argyropoulos was a member of the Argyropoulos family,[1] which belonged to the small circle of Phanariote families that by virtue of their knowledge of foreign languages occupied key positions in the Ottoman government during the 18th century, holding the posts of Grand Dragoman and Dragoman of the Fleet.
[2] Iakovos began his career as a secretary to the Patriarch of Constantinople,[1] before being sent to his first diplomatic mission to the Prussian court in Berlin.
[6][7] In 1829 he was pardoned and recalled to serve as ambassador to the Russian court alongside Stefan Bogoridi (who also had been exiled) for negotiations before the Treaty of Adrianople.
[13] During his exile, and as part of renewed Ottoman attempts to create a modern army after the suppression of the Janissaries in 1826, Argyropoulos translated European military treatises into Turkish.