author
Aristoteles Valaorites
1824–1879
A leading voice of 19th-century Greek poetry, he wrote with strong patriotic feeling and helped shape the literary identity of modern Greece. His work drew on the Greek War of Independence and the spoken language of his time, giving his verse both energy and immediacy.
1 Audiobook
Αθανάσης Διάκος - Αστραπόγιαννος
by Aristoteles Valaorites
About the author
Born on the island of Lefkada in 1824, Aristotelis Valaoritis was educated in Lefkada and later studied in Geneva, Paris, and Pisa. He became known as one of the main representatives of the Heptanese School, a literary movement connected with the Ionian Islands.
His poetry is especially remembered for its patriotic spirit. Writing in demotic Greek and often turning to heroes and episodes from the Greek War of Independence, he gained a reputation as a national poet whose work spoke to the hopes and struggles of 19th-century Greece.
Valaoritis was also active in public life as a politician, not only as a man of letters. He died in Lefkada on July 24, 1879, and remains an important figure in Greek literary history.