Papadopoulos was born on the Aegean island of Kea. Kea was among the islands occupied for several years by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, before they were returned to Ottoman control in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. Papadopoulos, who must have been around fifteen at the time, probably accompanied the departing Russians. He was educated in the Greek Gymnasium established by Grigory Potemkin and attached to the Engineering and Artillery Gentry Corps. In 1781 he entered the officer corps. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792, he took part in the Siege of Ochakov and other battles against the Ottomans. For his distinguished actions near Koushan, he was promoted to the general staff. Upon the conclusion of peace with the Sublime Porte, Papadopoulos accompanied the Russian ambassador to Constantinople and composed a description of the two major roads leading to the city. With the outbreak of the War of the Third Coalition in 1803, Papadopoulos formed a battalion and an artillery command with twelve guns from the garrison of Kamenets, with which he went to Corfu. There in 1804 he was engaged in organizing the Republic's regular army, the Greek Legion. In the same year he was promoted to major general. In 1804 he also published in Corfu, in Greek and Italian, a military manual for the instruction of the Greeks in modern warfare. In 1805, he published the Legion's regulations, where he exhorted its readers to remember that they are descendants of the ancient Greeks, to emulate the deeds of the celebrated Pyrrhus and Skanderbeg, and bring new glory to the Greek name. In autumn 1805 he led the troops of the Greek Legion to participate in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Naples, alongside 14,000 Russian and 10,000 British troops. The expedition was cut short, however, by Napoleon's decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in December. In February 1806, the Anglo-Russians were forced to abandon the Italian mainland to the French. In 1806 he commanded the Russian forces operating at the Bay of Kotor. He particularly distinguished himself in the capture of Castelnuovo on 19 September 1806, after a seven-hour battle. In late 1806 he was named colonel-in-chief of the. Taking command of the regiment and all the Greek troops in the Ionian Islands, he successfully countered the threat of Ali Pasha of Ioannina. He established three legions at the mainland outpost of Parga in 1807, and organized the defences at Lefkada, threatened by Ali Pasha with attack. Following the Peace of Tilsit, with his regiment he returned to Russia via Austria. He joined the Russian Army of the Danube during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, and distinguished himself again in several combats with the Turks, until his death in battle before Shumla on 11 June 1810. His epitaph was delivered by the Orthodox Metropolitan of Ungro-Wallachia, Ignatios II. It was published by the Greek scholar Periklis Zerlentis in 1887.
Family
Papadopoulos had no sons, but his daughter Maria Emmanuilovna became a notable presence in Odessa for her numerous charitable works.
