author
George Horton
1860–1942
An American diplomat and writer, he spent decades in Greece and the Ottoman Empire and turned those experiences into novels, poetry, translations, and memoirs. He is especially remembered for his firsthand account of the destruction of Smyrna in 1922.
2 Audiobooks
About the author
Born in 1859 in Fairville, New York, George Horton was an American diplomat, novelist, poet, and translator whose life was closely tied to the eastern Mediterranean. He served in the United States consular service in places including Athens and Smyrna, and his long residence abroad gave his writing a strong sense of place and firsthand observation.
Alongside his diplomatic work, Horton published fiction, poetry, translations, and memoirs. He had a deep interest in Greek culture and became known as a philhellene, writing often about Greece and the wider region he knew so well.
Many readers now know him best for The Blight of Asia and for his recollections of the final years of Ottoman Smyrna. His books stand out for combining the perspective of a literary writer with that of a witness to major historical upheaval.