author
John Mavrogordato
A gifted translator and scholar of Greek literature, he helped bring modern Greek poetry and Byzantine stories to English-speaking readers. His work linked academic study with a real love of language, making difficult texts feel alive and approachable.
1 Audiobook
The World in Chains: Some Aspects of War and Trade
by John Mavrogordato
About the author
Born in London in 1882, John Nicholas Mavrogordato became a British-Greek scholar, translator, and man of letters whose work centered on Byzantine and modern Greek literature. He later succeeded R. M. Dawkins in Oxford’s Chair of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature and was a Fellow of Exeter College.
He is especially remembered for translating poems by C. P. Cavafy into English, helping introduce that major poet to wider audiences. He also edited and translated important Greek texts, including Digenes Akrites, combining careful scholarship with a reader-friendly style.
Archives and reference collections describe him as both a serious academic and a prolific writer. He died in 1970, leaving behind work that still matters to readers interested in Greek poetry, history, and storytelling.