Alexandros Soutsos () (1803–1863) was a Greek poet from a prominent Phanariote family. He founded the Greek Romantic school of poetry. Soutsos was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1803 from Chian parentage. At the time of the Greek Revolution, he was a young, liberal partisan. He wrote poems to encourage the insurgents. Soutsos studied in Chios, where he spent his formative years. Later he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he was influenced by the liberal philosophies of the French intellectuals. His major work of

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

was the novel ''O exóristos tou 1831'' (''The Exile of 1831''). His works were instrumental in developing liberal thought in the young Greek monarchy. Soutsos was an admirer of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, and he tried to emulate his grandiose style. The resultant work was his longest poem ''Periplanómenos'' (''The Wanderer''), which, in spite of some positive reviews, never achieved international success. In spite of his lack of artistic respect, he was admired by many of his contemporaries. The Greek people admired him for his dedication to freedom, and for his liberal ideas. He died in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in 1863, and his works were published in 1916. Evangelis Zappas, a wealthy Greek merchant based in

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, explicitly requested that Alexandros Soutsos and his brother

Panagiotis Soutsos Panagiotis Soutsos (; 1806 – 25 October 1868) was a Greeks, Greek poet, novelist and journalist born in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). He was the brother of the satirist Alexandros Soutsos and cousin of writer and diplomat Alexandro ...

be made members of the Organizing Committee of the Olympics. It was Panagiotis Soutsos who first made mention of a revival of the Olympic Games, in his

Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syria (region), Syrian satire, satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with whi ...

-inspired poem ''Dialogue of the Dead'' (1833), in which

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

's spirit returns to 19th century Greece, and gazes upon it in despair, uttering the words: "Where are all your theatres and marble statues? / Where are your Olympic Games?" In 1835, Panagiotis Soutsos followed this up with a letter to the Greek Minister of the Interior, Ioannis Kolettis, proposing that 25 March, the anniversary of the outbreak of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

, should be declared a national holiday, marked by festivities including a revival of the ancient Olympics.David C. Young, The Modern Olympics - A Struggle for Revival, published by the

Johns Hopkins University Press Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

in 1996, p15,

References

1803 births 1863 deaths Modern Greek poets First Athenian School Romantic poets Alexandros Writers from Istanbul 19th-century Greek poets Constantinopolitan Greeks Immigrants to Greece {{Greece-poet-stub