Lorentzos Mavilis (; ; 6 September 1860 – 28 November 1912) was a Greek sonneteer,

war poet War poetry is poetry on the topic of war. While the term is applied especially to works of the First World War, the term can be applied to poetry about any war, including Homer's ''Iliad'', from around the 8th century BC as well as poetry of th ...

, and

chess problems A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle created by the composer using chess pieces on a chessboard, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White i ...

composer. He is best known for his

sonnets A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

Biography

He was born in Ithaca and was of half-Spanish origin from his father who was a judge in the Ionian islands, and half-

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 ...

from his local mother. His Spanish paternal grandfather, Don Lorenzo Mabili y Boulligny, was consul of Spain in

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

and upon arriving in Greece,

Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

his surname from Mabili to Mavilis. He studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and philosophy in Germany and started to compose poems and chess problems (

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

was his other passion). He was a great supporter of the ''

Megali Idea The Megali Idea () is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the ...

''. In 1896, he joined the

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

revolt against the Ottoman rule and in 1897, during the Greco-Turkish War, he participated in the fighting with a group of Corfiot volunteers. In 1909, he supported the Goudi coup and in 1910 was 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 ...

with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, representing Corfu. As an MP, he took an active part in the dispute on the

Greek language question The Greek language question (, ) was a dispute about whether the vernacular of the Greek people (Demotic Greek) or a cultivated literary language based on Ancient Greek (Katharevousa) should be the prevailing language of the people and governmen ...

, defending the use of the

Demotic Greek Demotic Greek (, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece. "Demotic Greek" (with a capital D) contrasts with the conservat ...

against the

Katharevousa Katharevousa (, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contemporary vernacular, Demotic ...

literary language Literary language is the Register (sociolinguistics), register of a language used when writing in a formal, academic writing, academic, or particularly polite tone; when speaking or writing in such a tone, it can also be known as formal language. ...

. With the outbreak of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

in 1912, despite his advanced age (he was 52), he decided to join the army. He served in a mixed group of Greek soldiers ''

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

ni'' volunteers from Italy, holding the rank of captain. He was killed in action on 28 November 1912, during the

Battle of Driskos The Battle of Driskos (, ), took place on 26–28 November ( O.S.), 1912. It was fought between Greek forces under General Dimitrios Matthaiopoulos and Ottoman forces under General Esad Pasha during the First Balkan War. The battle began ...

, in the vicinity of which he is buried. According to fellow poet Nikolaos Karvounis his last words were:

References

Sources

* *Hibon, Roland, "Ἀνέκδοτα ἔργα τοῦ Μαβίλη ", Ἠπειρωτικὴ Ἑστία, 17, 200 (1968), σσ. 537–546 *"Νεοελληνική Ποιητική Ανθολογία", ΒΙΠΕΡ No. 100, εκδόσεις "Πάπυρος ΠΡΕΣΣ", Αθήναι, 1971 *"Ελληνική Ανθολογημένη Ποίηση", Γαβριήλ Πεντζίκης, εκδόσεις "Ινστιτούτο Διαδόσεως Ελληνικού Βιβλίου", Αθήνα, 1980 *Νούτσος Παναγιώτης, "O Λ. Mαβίλης ως συνοδοιπόρος των 'Kοινωνιολόγων' ", O Πολίτης, αρ. 44 (5 December 1997), 37–41 *Savinio, Alberto, Narrate, uomini, la vostra storia, εκδόσεις Adelphi, Milano, 1984, 133-147 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mavilis, Lorentzos 1860 births 1912 deaths People from Ithaca Greek people of Spanish descent 19th-century Greek poets Heptanese school (literature) Sonneteers Chess composers Greek MPs 1910–1912 Greek nationalists Greek people of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) Greek people of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel killed in action Greek male poets Balkan Wars casualties 19th-century Greek male writers United States of the Ionian Islands people