Demetrios Bernardakis

Demetrios Bernardakis
Native name Δημήτριος Βερναρδάκης
Born 1833
Agia Marinia, Mytilene
Died 1907
Occupation Professor, writer
Language Greek
Nationality Ottoman, Greek
Ethnicity Greek
Citizenship Ottoman, Greek
Education PhD
Alma mater National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Period Belle Époque, Megali Idea
Genre Textual scholarship, drama, catechesis
Subject Euripides
Literary movement Hellenism, Katharevousa
Notable awards Nobel Prize (nominated)
Relatives Gregorios Bernardakis (brother), Athanasios Bernardakis (brother), Panayiotis Bernardakis (great-nephew)

Demetrios Bernardakis (Greek: Δημήτριος Βερναρδάκης, Dimitrios Vernardakis, also transliterated Dimitrios Bernardakis, Mytilene 3 December 1833[1]—25 January 1907[2]) was a polymath writer and Professor of History at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Biographical sketch

He was born at Agia Marina, Lesbos (just south of Mytilene).[3] His father was Nikolaos Vernardakis, originally from Crete, while his mother was Melissini, of the Trantalis family.[4] His brothers were the learned Athanasios Bernardakis and Gregorios Bernardakis.[3]

He studied on a scholarship given to him by Patriarch Alexandros Kallinikos from present-day Skotina, Pieria. A prolific writer, he translated and annotated the tragedies of Euripides (The Phoenician Women, Hecuba, Hippolytus, and Medea), but he became known chiefly for the sake of his own versified dramas, with which he wanted to create a romantic Greek theatre, taking as his example Shakespeare, Greek mythology, and Greek history. Indeed, it is held that he is among the most important figures in historical drama in Greece. His works had great success in his own era, but were quickly forgotten, chiefly by reason of their archaizing language.

His university career ended on 27 August 1869 when Bernardakis was compelled to resign by reason of continuing student reactions (the so-called Vernardakeia), which he attributed to collusion with his university rivals and their political power at the time.

His brother, Athansios Bernardakis, nominated Demetrios twice — in 1904[5] and 1905[6] — for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Selected works

Theatrical

Linguistic

Historical

Theological

References

  1. ↑ εφ. Εμπρός, 13/1/1907, σελ.2.
  2. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=3I9iAAAAMAAJ&q=βερναρδάκης+1907&dq=βερναρδάκης+1907&hl=el&sa=X&ei=4WLbUcWuBozMOJr6gOgM&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA
  3. 1 2 Βερναρδάκης Δημήτριος, ΕΚΕΒΙ
  4. ↑ Εφημερίδα Δημοκράτης, 19 Νοεμβρίου 2008
  5. ↑ The Nomination Database for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1901-1950, nobelprize.org
  6. ↑ The Nomination Database for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1901-1950, nobelprize.org

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.