Christos Christovasilis (; c. 12 March 1861 – 26 August 1937) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

journalist and author, representative of Greek

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

literature. He was a collector of rural and folk material and one of the most important figures in the literature of

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

in late 19th-early 20th century.

Life

Christovasilis was born in the village of Soulopoulo, Zitsa,

, then in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. As a teenager he ran away from school in order to join the Epirus revolt of 1878, and participated in the guerilla operations near

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

.Χρήστος Χρηστοβασίλης
. National Book Centre of Greece. Greek Ministry of Culture. (Greek) As a result, he was twice arrested by the Ottoman authorities and sentenced to death, but he managed to escape. In 1885 he moved to

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 ...

, where he studied, compiled and published several works on Greek history.Merry p. 72 In December 1889 he won the literary competition of the Athenian newspaper ''Acropolis'', with his countryside tale ''Pastoral new year''. He subsequently decided to devote himself to journalism and literature. When the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(1912–1913) ended and most of Epirus became part of Greece, he moved to Ioannina and published a newspaper named Ελευθερία ("Freedom"). In 1924, he became a member of the administrative committee of the ''Educational Club'' (Εκπαιδευτικός Όμιλος) of Ioannina. together with other prominent figures of Epirus, such as Georgios Hatzis. Additionally, in 1936 he published the cultural magazine ''Epirote Leaves''. Christovasilis was twice elected as a member of the

Greek Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme democratic instit ...

, in

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

Work

Christovasilis was a collector of rural and folk material and one of the main representatives of Greek

literature of that era. He wrote his works in the

Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used t ...

(vernacular) language, which he called "

koine Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...

of the future". His work was inspired by high degree of

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

aimed against Ottoman rule. Christovassilis best prose is gathered in the ''Stories of Exile'' (1889) and in ''Stories from the Stockyard'' (1898), a compilation of eleven stories inspired from his rural childhood. Additionally, in 1901 he published the ''Tales of the Mountain and the Valley'', which earned him another literary prize, promulgated by the supporter of the Demotic language,

Ioannis Psycharis Ioannis (Yiannis) Psycharis ( Greek: Ιωάννης (Γιάννης) Ψυχάρης; French: ''Jean Psychari''; 1854–1929) was a Russian-born philologist who was much of his life a national of France. He was of Greek descent. He was also a w ...

References

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External links

* *
Works of Christos Christovasilis
openarhives.gr
Works of Christos Christovasilis
el.wikisource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Christovasilis, Christos 1860s births 1937 deaths People from Zitsa Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece Greek MPs 1926–1928 Greek MPs 1935–1936 Greek male novelists Greek male journalists 19th-century Greek male writers 20th-century Greek male writers 19th-century Greek journalists 20th-century Greek journalists 19th-century Greek novelists 20th-century Greek novelists