Dionysios Kokkinos (Greek: Διονύσιος Κόκκινος; 1884–1967) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

historian, journalist, academic and writer.

Early life and education

Kokkinos was born in Pyrgos in

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

, Greece. His father, Antonios Kokkinos, was a

hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

, born in

Amorgos Amorgos ( el, Αμοργός, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighboring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Nik ...

, 1864. His mother, Angeliki Yiannopoulou, was born in Agoulinitsa (today Epitalio) to a family who fought in the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Although Kokkinos briefly studied medicine at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, he ended up abandoning this path in favor of history, journalism, and literature. During his college career he published the socialist newspaper '' Mellon'' (or "Future"). When Greece entered the Balkan wars, he joined as a soldier, and a year later published 4 volumes on his impressions of it.

Career

During his career, Kokkinos worked for the newspapers '' Akropolis'', '' Kathimerini'', ''Patrida'', ''Proteifousa,'' ''Hellenic, Proia,'' and '' Ethnos,'' fulfilling at times the roles of chronicler, correspondent, and

philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...

collaborator. He often published works under various pseudonyms, including "Maccabeus" and "Ariel". From October 1935 to February 1954, he directed the

National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece ( el, Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος, Ethnikí Vivliothíki tis Elládos) is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to ...

. In 1948, the Academy of Athens awarded him the "National Excellence of Letters and Arts" and, in 1950, he was elected a member of the Class of Letters. In addition, he was a member of the board of directors of the National Theater, as well as the Actors' Labor Fund. Kokkinos authored short stories and novels as well as history, vignettes, and theater and art criticism. He first appeared in fiction with ''The'' ''Last'' , a short story published in the magazine Numas , in 1906. His other works are: ''The Lady with the White Horse'' (1922), ''The Secret Nest'' (1924), ''Illigos'' (1932), ''Alexis the coachman'' (1934), ''A rifle in the blue water'' (1935), and ''Hunted by the world'' (1937). Kokkinos's literature mainly focuses on the life of the Athenian bourgeoisie. In addition, Kokkinos wrote a series of theatrical dialogues which were published in a volume in 1924 under the title ''Theater of Life.'' He also penned original works for the theatre. His one-act play ''The Lost One'' was performed in 1939 by

Marika Kotopouli Marika Kotopouli ( el, Μαρίκα Κοτοπούλη; 3 May 1887 – 11 September 1954) was a Greek stage actress during the first half of the 20th century. Biography Kotopouli was born on 3 May 1887 in Athens to actor parents, Dimitrios Ko ...

. In 1960 he completed his definitive work, ''The Greek Revolution,'' in 6 volumes, but the fifth and final edition would not be published until after his death.

References

1884 births 1967 deaths 20th-century Greek historians Greek journalists Greek writers People from Pyrgos, Elis Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) 20th-century journalists {{Greece-historian-stub