Vamvas was born on the island of Chios in 1770. His secular name was Nikolaos. He was ordained a deacon and age 20 and in 1804 went to study at France where he met Adamantios Korais. On his return to Greece, he taught in Chios, at the Ionian Academy of Corfu, at the first Gymnasium of Syros and later in the newly-founded University of Athens. His main contribution to Greek literature is his translation of the Bible into modern Greek, an endeavour that was opposed at that time by ultraconservative circles within the Greek Orthodox Church. He died at Athens in 1856.