Aristotelis Valaoritis

Aristotelis Valaoritis
Aristotelis Valaoritis
	Portrait of Aristotelis Valaoritis by Spyridon Prosalentis.
Born	1824; Lefkada, United States of the Ionian Islands
Died	1879; Lefkada, Kingdom of Greece
Occupation	Poet, Politician, civil servant
Signature

Aristotelis Valaoritis (Greek: Αριστοτέλης Βαλαωρίτης; 1824–1879)^[1] was a Greek poet, representative of the Heptanese School, and politician. He was also the great-grandfather of Nanos Valaoritis, one of the most distinguished writers of Greece.

Biography

He was born in Lefkada in 1824^[2] and was an Aromanian.^[3]^[4] His father was a rich merchant from the region of Epirus. Valaoritis completed his school education in Lefkada and Corfu.^[2] Afterwards he went to France and Italy to study law. He never worked as a lawyer though, but completely devoted himself to poetry. He spent an important part of his life in the small island of Madouri.

At the age of 25 he married the daughter of the Venetian scholar Emilio De Tipaldo, Eloisa. Using simple language he wrote many poems regarding the Greek War of Independence. He was credited as a national poet. Some of his most important works are: Stichourgimata, Mnemosina, Kira Frosini, Athanasios Diakos, O Fotinos, Astrapogiannos.

O Fotinos (or Der Helle in German), is a very famous unfinished poem relating the so-called Voukentra revolution of 1357 in Lefkada against the Venetian (Italian) occupation. Valaoritis composed this poem on the privately owned isle of Madouri.

Meanwhile, he got into politics. As a member of the Parliament of the United States of the Ionian Islands he fought for the rights of the Ionian islands, such as the union with the Kingdom of Greece. Once the Ionian islands were united with Greece he moved to Athens, as a member of the Greek Parliament. His speeches were heavily influenced by his poetic language, making his rhetorical skills uniquely remarkable. The last years of his life, he developed action towards the integration of Epirus to Greece, a goal not fully achieved until the Balkan Wars.

He died in Lefkada in 1879 due to heart failure.

Work

Poems

Ι Kira Frosini, Η Κυρά Φροσύνη (1859)
Athanasios Diakos, Αθανάσιος Διάκος (1867)
Thanasis Bagias, Θανάσης Βάγιας (1867)
Astrapogiannos, Αστραπόγιαννος (1867)
O andrias tou aidimou Grigoriou tou E, Ο ανδριάς του αοιδίμου Γρηγορίου του Ε (1872)
O Fotinos, Ο Φωτεινός (incomplete, published posthumously in 1891)

Collections

Stichourgimata, Στιχουργήματα (1847)
Mnemosina, Μνημόσυνα (1857)

Others

Poiemata, Ποιήματα (1891)
Erga, Εργα (1893)
Vios kai erga, Βίος και έργα (1907)
Poiemata anekdota, Ποιήματα ανέκδοτα (1937)
Ta Apanta, Τα Άπαντα (1968)

References

^ Browning, Robert (1983-08-18). Medieval and Modern Greek. Cambridge University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9780521299787.
^ ^a ^b "Αριστοτέλης Βαλαωρίτης: Ο εθνικός ποιητής που έχασε τρεις κόρες σε μικρή ηλικία". In.gr (in Greek). 20 May 2021.
^ Michalopoulos, Dimitris (2012). "Aromanians and Tsakonians: Similarities and Differences". In Nowicka, Ewa (ed.). The Politics of Culture, Perspectives of stateless nationalities ethnic groups. Warsaw University Press. p. 63. And last but not least was Aromanian Aristotle Valaoritis (1824–1879), a kind of national poet of Modern Greece, whose inspiration is to be found in the battles of the 1821 Revolution.
^ Ineoan, Emanuil (2015). "Historiographical disputes about the Aromanian problem (19th-20th centuries)" (PDF). Acta Musei Napocensis. 52 (2): 141–142. The same renowned academic highlights that "One truth that needs to be heard is that the modern Greek elite was composed mainly of Aromanians." Michalopoulos gives examples, such as Iannis Kolletis (1780-1847) - Prime Minister, Michail Tossitza (1787-1856), A. Valaoritis (1824-1879), Spyridon Trikoupis (1788-1873) - statesman, diplomat and historian, his son Harilaos Trikoupis (1832-1896), Prime Minister of Greece, both of them having their origins in Moscopole, etc.

External links

Works by Aristotelis Valaoritis at Project Gutenberg
Works by Aristotelis Valaoritis at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

[1] Browning, Robert (1983-08-18). Medieval and Modern Greek. Cambridge University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9780521299787.

[:0-2] "Αριστοτέλης Βαλαωρίτης: Ο εθνικός ποιητής που έχασε τρεις κόρες σε μικρή ηλικία". In.gr (in Greek). 20 May 2021.

[3] Michalopoulos, Dimitris (2012). "Aromanians and Tsakonians: Similarities and Differences". In Nowicka, Ewa (ed.). The Politics of Culture, Perspectives of stateless nationalities ethnic groups. Warsaw University Press. p. 63. And last but not least was Aromanian Aristotle Valaoritis (1824–1879), a kind of national poet of Modern Greece, whose inspiration is to be found in the battles of the 1821 Revolution.

[4] Ineoan, Emanuil (2015). "Historiographical disputes about the Aromanian problem (19th-20th centuries)" (PDF). Acta Musei Napocensis. 52 (2): 141–142. The same renowned academic highlights that "One truth that needs to be heard is that the modern Greek elite was composed mainly of Aromanians." Michalopoulos gives examples, such as Iannis Kolletis (1780-1847) - Prime Minister, Michail Tossitza (1787-1856), A. Valaoritis (1824-1879), Spyridon Trikoupis (1788-1873) - statesman, diplomat and historian, his son Harilaos Trikoupis (1832-1896), Prime Minister of Greece, both of them having their origins in Moscopole, etc.

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v t e Megali Idea
Background	Fall of Constantinople Ottoman Greece Greek Plan Greek War of Independence First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece
Annexations	Ionian Islands (1864) Thessaly (1881) Crete (1912) Epirus (1912) Macedonia (1912) North Aegean islands (1912) Western Thrace (1919) Dodecanese (1947)
Temporary acquisitions	Eastern Thrace (1920–23) Imbros and Tenedos (1912–13, 1920–23) Northern Epirus (1914–17, 1919–21, 1940–41) Smyrna Zone (1919–22 as dependency) Constantinople, Zone of the Straits (1918–23 with France, Italy and United Kingdom)
Other areas	Asia Minor which included: Ionia Aeolis Doris Cappadocia (Cappadocian Greeks) Lydia Caria Mysia Troas Phrygia Galatia Bithynia Lycia Cilicia Cataonia Lycaonia Pamphylia Isauria Pisidia Paphlagonia Chamanene Armenia Minor Part of Commagene Cyprus Eastern Rumelia Pelagonia (Monastiri region) Gevgeli Sazan island Pontus
Ideas	Greek nationalism Hellenization Enosis
People/Organizations	Ioannis Kolettis Aristotelis Valaoritis Ethniki Etaireia Macedonian Committee Alexandros Koumoundouros Dimitrios Kalapothakis Stephanos Dragoumis Pavlos Melas Kostis Palamas Military League Eleftherios Venizelos Penelope Delta Themistoklis Sofoulis Nikolaos Plastiras Georgios Christakis-Zografos Theodoros Pangalos Northern Epirus Liberation Front EOKA Georgios Grivas Dimitrios Ioannidis
Events	Party of Radicals (Ionian Islands) Epirus Revolt of 1854 1854 Macedonian rebellion 1867 Macedonian rebellion Cretan revolt (1866–1869) Cretan revolt (1878) Epirus Revolt of 1878 1878 Macedonian rebellion Macedonian Struggle Greco-Turkish War (1897) Theriso revolt Balkan League Balkan Wars Himara revolt of 1912 Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus Provisional Government of National Defence National Defence Army Corps Greece in WWI Occupation of Constantinople Greek landing at Smyrna Republic of Pontus Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Great Fire of Smyrna 1931 Cyprus Revolt Greece in WWII Greco-Italian War Cyprus Emergency 1974 Cypriot coup d'état
Treaties	Treaty of London (1864) Greek-Serbian Alliance of 1867 Treaty of Berlin (1878) Convention of Constantinople (1881) Treaty of Constantinople (1897) Greek-Serbian Alliance of 1913 Treaty of London (1913) Treaty of Bucharest (1913) Treaty of Athens (1913) Protocol of Corfu (1914) Venizelos–Tittoni agreement (1919) Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1919) Treaty of Sèvres (1920) Treaty of Lausanne (1923) Treaty of Paris (1947) Treaty of Guarantee (1960)