MAUROGORDATO, ALESSANDRO. - Called Exaporitus, born 7 Nov. 1641 in Constantinople, died there 23 Dec. 1709. He pursued his studies first at the school of the patriarchate, then for three years at the Greek college of S. Atanasio in Rome, and later at the Universities of Padua and Bologna; at the latter he received, in May 1664, a degree in medicine and philosophy in the presence of Ferdinando II, duke of Tuscany.
Having returned to Constantinople in 1665, he became a professor at the patriarchal school and there received the title of μέγας δῆσος. After marrying Sultana, daughter of Giovanni Chrysoscolios, a descendant of the prince of Moldavia Ilias Voda, M. became, in 1671, private secretary to the Ottoman grand dragoman Nikusios at Adrianople, and from 1673 to his successor; in 1688 he is found as ambassador of the Ottoman court to Emperor Leopoldo I in Vienna, and later as confidential secretary of the Sublime Porte, where he exercised great influence on Turkish policy. M. conducted the negotiations for the peace of Carlovitz on 26 Jan. 1699. His influence proved beneficial to the cause of Christians in the Muslim empire of the Turks and to the rights of Catholics in the Holy Places of Palestine. M. was the author of many writings, largely still unpublished, concerning philosophy, theology, and above all contemporary history.