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"After Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Blaise Cendrars and Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, the poet Philippe Jaccottet is the fourth Swiss author to be published in the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. Le Temps Saturday 15 February 2014. This is a list of Swiss poets, consisting of both authors native to Switzerland, and authors born elsewhere who have influenced Swiss literature through their work. Swiss literature may be split into four parts based on the language of the author, although some authors may write in multiple languages. (Years link to corresponding "[year] in poetry" articles.) French language *Raphaël Aubert (born 1953) *S. Corinna Bille (1912–1979) *Blaise Cendrars (Frédéric Louis Sauser) (1887–1961) *Maurice Chappaz (1916-2009) *Victor Cherbuliez (1829–1899) *Jacques Chessex (1934-2009) *Anne Cuneo (1936-2015) *Markus Hediger (born 1959) *Jeanne Hersch (1910–2000) *Philippe Jaccottet (born 1925) *Ella Maillart (1903–1997) *Pierrette Micheloud (1915–2007) *Marc Monnier (1827-1885) *Suzanne Necker, née Suzanne Curchod (1739–1794) *Juste Olivier (1807-1876) *Guy de Pourtalès (1881–1941) *Eugène Rambert (1830–1886) *Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947) *Grisélidis Réal (1929–2005) *Alice Rivaz (1901–1998) *Gustave Roud (1897–1976) *Léon Savary (1895–1968) *Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (Madame de Staël) (1766–1817) *Jean-Pierre Vallotton (born 1955) German language *Jürg Amann (1947–2013) *Peter Bichsel (born 1935) *Silvio Blatter (born 1946) *Hermann Burger (1942-1989) *Erika Burkart (1922-2010) *Martin R. Dean (born 1955) *Rolf Dobelli (born 1966) *Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) *Marianne Ehrmann (1755–1795) *Jürg Federspiel (1931–2007) *Max Frisch (1911–1991) *Salomon Gessner (1730–1788) *Friedrich Glauser (1896–1938) *Eugen Gomringer (born 1925) *Jeremias Gotthelf (Albert Bitzius) (1797–1854) *Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777) *Eveline Hasler (born 1933) *Ludwig Hohl (1904–1980) *Franz Hohler (born 1943) *Gardi Hutter (born 1953) *Pierre Imhasly (1939-2017) *Zoë Jenny (born 1974) *Gottfried Keller (1819–1890) *Christian Kracht (born 1966) *Heinrich Leuthold (1827-1879) *Hugo Loetscher (born 1929) *Kurt Marti (High German and Swiss-German) (born 1921) *Niklaus Meienberg (1940–1993) *Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898) *Adolf Muschg (born 1934) *Erica Pedretti (born 1930) *Johann Gaudenz von Salis- Seewis (1762-1834) *Jakob Schaffner (1875–1944) *René Sommer (born 1954) *Gerold Späth (born 1939) *Carl Spitteler (1845–1924) *Johanna Spyri (1827–1901) *Peter Stamm (born 1963) *Albert Steffen (1884–1963) *Martin Suter (born 1948) *Raphael Urweider (born 1974) *Johann Martin Usteri (1763-1828) *Robert Walser (1878-1956) *Silja Walter (1919-2011) *Markus Werner (1944-2016) *Johann Rudolf Wyss (1781-1830) *Werner Zemp (1906–1959) *Albin Zollinger (1885–1941) *Fritz Zorn (1944–1976) *Roland Zoss (born 1951) *Johann Heinrich Daniel Zschokke (1771–1848) Italian language *Giorgio Orelli (1921-2013) *Giovanni Orelli (1928-2016) *Fabio Pusterla (born 1957) *Pierre Lepori (born 1968) Romansh language *Peider Lansel (1863–1943) Notes and references See also * Swiss literature Swiss "
"The Battle of Villafranca unfolded on 20 April 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession. The armies of Spain and France, advancing into Kingdom of Sardinia, unsuccessfully attacked entrenched positions at the pass of Villafranca, defended by Anglo-Sardinian forces. Because of the high losses incurred, the defenders were forced to leave the harbour of Villafranca two days after the battle (22 April 1744). Situation in Italy 1744 had opened bleakly for the Spaniards in Italy. To the south the Austrians were steadily driving back General Montemar's army. Naples was threatened. Britain, boasting naval superiority in the Mediterranean, intervened on the side of Austria, and the Royal Navy everywhere harassed Spain's allies and frustrated Spanish war shipping. Genoa was blocked off by a British squadron, and Switzerland kept her borders closed to the passage of troops. Marching overland through allied France, the Infante Philip had easily conquered Savoy, but, starved of supplies, had been unable to advance against the Sardinians in the Alps. On 22 February, the Bourbon navies defeated the British off the coast of Toulon. The retreat of Admiral Matthews' fleet left the sea lanes temporarily under French and Spanish control. Supplies poured into Philip's camp. 20,000 Frenchmen under Louis François I, Prince of Conti were then dispatched to combine with Philip's 20,000 Spaniards, their goal being to force a passage into Lombardy and to unite with the Spanish army in the south. On 1 April, the allies crossed the Var and advanced into Nice, which fell without a fight. Villafranca lay before them. The battle The Sardinians led by Vittorio Francesco Filippo di Savoia, Marquis of Susa, the brother of the King Charles Emmanuel III, entrenched themselves along the heights of Villafranca. Their natural defences were formidable: the attackers, hemmed in by cliffs and precipices, faced a difficult climb up over rocks and boulders, in plain sight of Sardinian guns. The fortified camp was equipped with more than 80 guns of all calibres, landed from English ships stationed in the harbor, which were arranged in eleven batteries. Sardinian forces counted fourteen battalions of infantry. Admiral Matthews, meanwhile, had returned to the area and landed a contingent of British regulars, marines, and artillery specialists to bolster the Sardinian defence. This force joined the Sardinians on the heights, their guns bearing down on the French against whom they had only recently declared war (Britain had been fighting a war against Spain since 1739). Voltaire would later quip, "even in the Alps we could still find Englishmen to fight us." Conti's first attack was launched the 14 April, but was suspended because of a storm. Finally Conti gave the assault on the fortified camp of Villafranca on the night of 19 to 20 April 1744. In the early stages of the battle the French and the Spaniards were able to immediately gain the position of the collet de Villefranche, capturing or destroying five Sardinian battalions. Even the commander in chief, the Marquis of Susa, was taken prisoner and he had to be replaced by the Knight of Cinzano. The French and Spanish forces moved to conquer the positions of Mont Gros, Mont Rouge and Mont Leuze, the keys of the defensive perimeter of Villafranca. However, led by their new commander, the defenders were able to contain the attack. In particular, the regiment Kalbermatten, a Swiss unit in Sardinian service, was able to develop a magnificent defensive action to hold the position of Mont Leuze. At four in the afternoon the situation was restored and Conti had now exhausted all the forces at his disposal. The Cinzano had the opportunity to launch an assault on the collective Villefranche and reoccupy the position, which is crucial as it allowed the transit of the road to Nice. This operation, conducted by principally by companies of grenadiers, achieved a complete success. In the evening the Sardinians were again deployed on the positions of the morning. Aftermath The defenders had suffered heavy losses. There were over 1,000 dead and wounded and 1,500 prisoners, compared to less than 3,000 losses of Spaniards and French, who counted among their ranks 433 men held captive. With only 5,000 men fit to fight, Cinzano preferred to abandon the fortified camp of Villafranca with the help of the British navy. On the evening of 21 April, in the dock of Villafranca, the garrison was shipped aboard 33 ships escorted by four British warships. At the dawn of the 22 April the fleet left the port. The fort of Montalbano had been abandoned, but Cinzano had left a garrison of 340 soldiers in the Citadel of Villafranca, who surrendered on April 27. The Prince de Conti realized that the conquest of the Ligurian Riviera would cost several months of combat. He then preferred to attack the Alps in July, an action that allowed the breakthrough of the Italian front and the siege of the city of Cuneo. Notes References *Nicola Brancaccio, L'esercito del vecchio Piemonte dal 1540 al 1861, Roma 1922. *Dario Gariglio, Mauro Minola, Le Fortezze delle alpi Occidentali, Vol. II, Cuneo 1995, pp. 291–194. *Bartolomeo Giuliano, La campagna militare del 1744 nelle Alpi occidentali e l'assedio di Cuneo, Cuneo 1967. External links * A short history of the swiss regiment Kalbermatten in Sardinian service Villafranca 1744 Villafranca Villafranca Villafranca Villafranca Category:1744 in France Villafranca 1744 Category:1744 in the Kingdom of Sardinia "
"Theodore Philip Stephanides (21 January 1896, Bombay, British Raj"Theodore Stephanides: A Brief Biography" (author not mentioned; it could be Richard Pine or Anthony Hirst), in Theodore Stephanides, Autumn Gleanings: Corfu Memoirs and Poems, pp. 12–18. – 13 April 1983, Kilburn, LondonDouglas Botting, Gerald Durrell: The Authorised Biography, HarperCollins, 1999, p. 520.Dean Kalimniou, "Diatribe. Theodore Stephanides: Homo Universalis".Theodore Stephanides on the VIAF.) was a Greek-British poet, author, translator, doctor, naturalist and scientist. He is best remembered as the friend and mentor of the famous naturalist and author Gerald Durrell, having appeared in such books as My Family and Other Animals, Birds, Beasts and Relatives, The Garden of the Gods and Fillets of Plaice by Gerald Durrell, Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell, or The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller. A polymath, Stephanides was respected as a scientist and doctor, and acclaimed as a poet in the English language. He also translated a sizeable body of Greek poetry into English, notably a significant body of work by Greek poet Kostis Palamas,"Editor's Introduction" (by Richard Pine), in Autumn Gleanings: Corfu Memoirs and Poems, pp. 9–11. the Greek near-epic work Erotocritos, and dozens of short poems of Sappho and other Ancient Greek authors.Sweet-Voiced Sappho: Some of the Extant Poems of Sappho of Lesbos and Other Ancient Greek Poems (translated by Theodore Stephanides). Stephanides was a noted biologist who has four species named after him. Three of them, Cytherois stephanidesi, Thermocyclops stephanidesi and Schizopera stephanidesi, are microscopic water organisms discovered by Stephanides in 1938,Peter G. Sutton, "Durrellian Odyssey: An Entomological Journey to the Island of Corfu", Antenna, 36 (4), 2012, pp. 224–233. and the fourth is Arctodiaptomus stephanidesi, a crustacean (copepod), described as Diaptomus stephanidesi by Otto Pesta in 1935.Arctodiaptomus stephanidesi (Pesta, 1935) on Fauna Europaea. Stephanides wrote A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece (1948), a definitive biological treatise on the freshwater life in Corfu, which is still cited today. His autobiographical account of the Battle of Crete, Climax in Crete (1946), and his half-fictional account of Corfu and the Ionian Islands, Island Trails (1973), were widely read in the past, but are now out of print. Biography = Childhood in Bombay and Corfu = Theodore Stephanides in Bombay, 1901 (apparently on the left, probably with his mother and brother). Theodore Philip Stephanides was born in Bombay, present-day India, to Philip (Philippos) Stephanides, a native of Thessaly, Greece, and Caterina Ralli, born and educated in London. His father worked for the international company of Ralli Brothers, whose family was originally from Chios, Greece, and married the boss’s daughter. Theodore spent his early years in Bombay, and accordingly, his native language was English, which he spoke with a clear British accent.The Garden of the Gods (BBC documentary, 1967). When his father retired in 1907, they moved to Corfu, where the Rallis family had an estate. It was only then that he began to learn Greek, at the age of eleven. = World War I and the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) = Theodore Stephanides in the Greek Army on the Macedonian front, 1917 (he describes this period in his book Macedonian Medley). During the First World War, which began when Stephanides was eighteen years of age, he served as a gunner in the Greek army on the Macedonian front, following which he saw service in the disastrous Anatolian campaign of 1919–1922.Anthony Hirst, "Theodore Stephanides at the Macedonian Front, 1917–1918", presentation (Saturday 12 May 2018) at the Conference "The Macedonian Front 1915–1918: Politics, Society & Culture in Time of War", Thessaloniki, May 10–13, 2018. Subsequently, Stephanides wrote an account of his participation, in 1917The 1917 year is given by Anthony Hirst. However, as mentioned elsewhere by the same Hirst, Stephanides started to serve on the Macedonian front in June 1916.–1918 (at the age of twenty-one to twenty-two), in Greek artillery brigades in the Macedonian campaign. He deposited a copy of the unpublished typescript in the Imperial War Museum in London in the 1970s. First started in the 1920s, completed in 1931, revised in the 1960s, and entitled Macedonian Medley, it was based on a diary that he kept on a daily basis during his two periods of duty on the Macedonian front (June 1916 to February 1918, and August to October 1918). Stephanides served for eighteen months in a sector of the Macedonian front where no major battles took place over this time. This was the area to the south of Ghevgheli (in Bulgarian hands) and close to the towns of Kilkis and Isvor (in Allied territory) where the front lines scarcely shifted at all in this period. Stephanides moved about a lot within the sector, since much of his work involved laying telephone and power lines between positions, and, speaking English and French (in addition to Greek), he was also often sent to liaise with nearby British and French units. In 1921–1922, Stephanides was detained and court-martialed for "insulting" King Constantine I of Greece. It was caused by his political views and his frustration with the Greek military authorities. Plans exist to publish Macedonian Medley. Although Stephanides' wartime experiences were not very successful, the accounts of his service are typical not only of his own wry humour in reporting them, but also of the way in which his acquaintances relished the bizarre situations in which he found himself. Thus, Alan G. Thomas, a close friend of both Stephanides and Lawrence Durrell, the editor of the latter's book Spirit of Place, mentions the following amusing incident which occurred during the war: > From time to time Theodore reminisces about his days as a gunner. No man, it > seems, could be commissioned as an artillery officer unless he had directed > the fire of a gun at least once. At that time the allied armies were cooped > up within a narrow territory, each unit almost on top of another. Theodore > was given the relative data the night before the test, and, determined to > succeed, worked out the bearings over and over again with his habitual > scientific accuracy. The great moment came, the gun fired, and the > projectile landed upon a tent, belonging to the medical corps, in which a > surgical operation was in progress. Absolutely certain that his calculations > were correct, Theodore insisted that they be investigated; he was proved > right, the data being based on true north, while the gun had been "laid" by > magnetic north. "I am probably the only doctor," Theodore is accustomed to > recall with a smile, "who has dropped a shell into an operating > theatre."Lawrence Durrell, Spirit of Place: Essays and Letters on Travel, > edited by Alan G. Thomas, first published in 1969, Open Road Integrated > Media, 2012. Stephanides' experience in the Anatolian campaign was no less undistinguished. Gerald Durrell reports the following story as narrated by Stephanides himself. His commanding officer gave him the task of leading the entry into Smyrna on a white horse. This is what followed: > As I was riding along at the head of the column, an old woman darted out of > a side street and started to hurl eau-de-Cologne about. The horse did not > mind that, but most unfortunately a small quantity of the scent must have > splashed into his eye. Well, he was quite used to parades and so forth, and > cheering crowds and things, but he was not used to having his eye squirted > full of eau-de-Cologne. He became... er... most upset about it and was > acting more like a circus horse than a charger. I only managed to stay on > because my feet had become wedged in the stirrups. The column had to break > ranks to try to calm him down, but he was so upset that eventually the > commander decided it would be unwise to let him take part in the rest of the > triumphal entry. So while the column marched through the main streets with > bands playing and people cheering and so forth, I was forced to slink > through the back streets on my white horse, both of us, to add insult to > injury, by now smelling very strongly of eau-de-Cologne.Gerald Durrell, My > Family and Other Animals, in The Corfu Trilogy, London: Penguin Books, 2006, > pp. 111-112. = 1920s: study of medicine in Paris, translation of poetry = During 1922–1930, Stephanides studied medicine at the University of Paris (specialization of radiology), where one of his professors was Marie Curie.Marios-Byron Raizis, "Lawrence Durrell and the Greek Poets: A Contribution to Cultural History", in Anna Lillios (Ed.), Lawrence Durrell and the Greek World (Susquehanna University Press, 2004), pp. 250–252. In Paris, he also discovered and developed his passion for astronomy, which remained his chief interest right up to his death, a fact reflected in many of his poems. He was encouraged in this pursuit by one of the leading French astronomers, Camille Flammarion, who wanted to make Theodore his chief pupil and heir. In the 1920s, Stephanides began his work as a translator of Greek poetry into English. In 1925 and 1926, he published two volumes of Greek poems belonging to Kostis Palamas and other modern Greek poets. These translations were coauthored with George Katsimbalis (also known as Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales), the man portrayed (along with Stephanides himself and Lawrence Durrell) in Henry Miller's novel The Colossus of Maroussi. They met during World War I and would become lifelong friends and collaborators. = 1930s: return to Corfu, meeting the Durrell family = In the 1930s, Stephanides practiced in Corfu as a radiologist and married Mary Alexander (a granddaughter of a former British consul in Corfu), with whom he had one daughter, Alexia Stephanides-Mercouri (1931–2018).Catherine Brown, "Athens Diary 2018". Alexia was a close friend of Gerry Durrell as a child in Corfu.Alexia Stephanides-Mercouri: "My father always hoped that Gerry and I would marry".Alexia Stephanides-Mercouri, the daughter of Theodore Stephanides, died on 28 October 2018. Later, she married Spyros Mercouris (1926–2018), brother of Greek actress Melina Mercouri."RIP Spyros Mercouris (1926–2018), political activist, curator and organiser of the first European Capital of Culture programme; brother of Melina Mercouri". They had two children, Pyrrhus and Alexander Mercouris.Catherine Brown, "Corfus of the Mind". In the 1930s, Stephanides also developed his skills as a freshwater biologist and as a microscope expert. During 1938–1939, he conducted significant work for the anti-malaria campaign in Salonica and Cyprus, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, returning occasionally to Corfu.Theodore Stephanides, Autumn Gleanings, p. 75. At this stage Stephanides had already written his scientific magnum opus, a treatise on the freshwater biology of Corfu, commissioned in 1936 by the Greek government, which was eventually published in 1948, and had been credited with the discovery of three microscopic water organisms, Cytherois stephanidesi, Thermocyclops stephanidesi and Schizopera stephanidesi. As is evident from his memoirs of Corfu, Stephanides was also an astronomer, and is the only person to have named after him not only three of nature's smallest water creatures but also a crater on the moon ("Römer A" is unofficially named ‘Stephanides crater’). Stephanides started Corfu field work in 1933, based on directives from the Corfiot health authorities to prepare a report on the principal localities where anti-malarial measures would be necessary. In 1935, he was introduced to the Durrell family by their common friend George Wilkinson.Theodore Stephanides, Autumn Gleanings, pp. 25–26. Gerald and Lawrence Durrell would remain his lifelong friends. He was a meticulous proof-reader for Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other AnimalsDouglas Botting, Gerald Durrell: The Authorised Biography, p. 229. and Lawrence Durrell's The Greek Islands. Theodore Stephanides in Corfu, about 1938. In March 1973, in the introduction to Stephanides' book Island Trails, Gerald Durrell recorded: > I have known Theodore Stephanides since I was the tender age of ten, on the > enchanted island of Corfu. He strolled into my life, tweed-suited, trilby- > hatted, his walking stick with its tiny net on the end, his bag of test > tubes and bottles slung on his hip, his beard twinkling in the sun; a sort > of walking hirsute encyclopaedia. The effect of Theodore's erudition on a > budding naturalist of ten was enormous. To me, just starting to explore and > learn about the world I lived in, to have Theodore as guide, philosopher and > friend was one of the most important things that have happened to me in my > life. Not many young naturalists have the privilege of having their > footsteps guided by a sort of omnipotent, benign and humorous Greek god. So > closely did Theodore resemble my heroes of that period (the great > naturalists like [Charles] Darwin, [Alfred Russel] Wallace, [Jean-Henri] > Fabre, Gilbert White) that it was as though he had stepped straight out of > the pages of their books. Theodore had and has all the best qualities of the > Victorian naturalists: insatiable interest in the world he inhabits, and > that ability to illuminate any topic with his own observations and thoughts. > This, coupled with a puckish sense of humour, a prodigious memory and an > ability to pack forty-eight hours into twenty-four, makes up a very > extraordinary man. Theodore's wide interests are, I think, summed up by the > fact that – in this day and age – he is a man who has a microscopic water > crustacean named after him as well as a crater on the moon.Theodore > Stephanides, Island Trails, Introduction by Gerald Durrell, pp. ix–xi. In My Family and Other Animals, Gerald wrote of their first meeting with Stephanides as follows: > He had a straight, well-shaped nose; a humorous mouth lurking in the ash- > blond beard; straight, rather bushy eyebrows under which his eyes, keen but > with a twinkle in them and laughter-wrinkles at the corners, surveyed the > world.Gerald Durrell, My Family and Other Animals, in The Corfu Trilogy, > London: Penguin Books, 2006, p. 75. In Prospero's Cell, Lawrence Durrell gave the following description of Stephanides: > For Theodore's portrait: fine head and golden beard: very Edwardian face – > and perfect manners of Edwardian professor. Probably reincarnation of comic > professor invented by Edward Lear during his stay in Corcyra [Corfu]. > Tremendous shyness and diffidence. Incredibly erudite in everything > concerning the island. Firm Venezelist [supporter of Eleftherios Venizelos], > and possessor of the dryest and most fastidious style of exposition ever > seen. Thumbnail portrait of bearded man in boots and cape, with massive bug- > hunting apparatus on his back stalking across country to a delectable pond > where his microscopic world of algae and diatoms (the only real world for > him) lies waiting to be explored. Theodore is always being arrested as a > foreign agent because of the golden beard, strong English accent in Greek, > and mysterious array of vessels and swabs and tubes dangling about his > person.Lawrence Durrell, Prospero's Cell, London: Faber and Faber, 1945, p. > 5. When Henry Miller met Stephanides in 1939, he thought: > Theodore is the most learned man I have ever met, and a saint to boot.Henry > Miller, The Colossus of Maroussi, London: Seeker and Warburg, 1942, p. 15. Introducing Stephanides' "A Synoptic History of Corfu", John Forte referred to him as "an integral part and parcel of the island of Corfu", adding that Stephanides "could in fact be described as a Corfiot institution"."A Synoptic History of Corfu", in John Forte (ed.), Corfu: Venus of the Isles, Essex: East Essex Gazette, 1963. In June 1940, Stephanides left for Cyprus to join the Royal Army Medical Corps of the British Army.Theodore Stephanides, Autumn Gleanings, pp. 76–77. Although Stephanides had left Corfu at the outbreak of the Second World War, returning only infrequently, the island had been an inspiration to the young Stephanides, as it was in turn to the young Gerald Durrell (they were of very similar ages when they made their "landfall" here), and this is clear in the many references to the island in Stephanides' poems, and, of course, explicit in his memoir of Lawrence Durrell at Kalami and Palaeocastritsa (Corfu Memoirs, published in Autumn Gleanings). = World War II, memoir Climax in Crete= During World War II, due to his dual Greek and British nationality, Stephanides served as a medical officer (lieutenant, and later major) in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Greece, Crete, Sicily and the Sahara. In May 1941, Stephanides was in Crete with the Allied troops when the Germans suddenly attacked the island by air. After several days of heavy bombings and machine-gunning by the Stukas, the Allies started retreating across the island, from Souda to Sfakia, to be evacuated by sea. Theodore had to walk about sixty kilometers in boots several sizes too large, which caused him great pain and badly chafed his feet. During the last stage of their march, he and another medical officer took charge of a group of about one hundred walking wounded, and they had to walk in open under the protection of the Red Cross flag. Eventually, they succeeded to reach the embarkation beach and were evacuated by H.M.A.S. Perth to Alexandria.Theodore Stephanides, Climax in Crete. In 1946, Stephanides published Climax in Crete, a vivid eyewitness account of the Battle of Crete. Lawrence Durrell wrote the foreword to it, where he remarked: > This sober and factual account of war experience in Greece and Crete can > claim none of the journalistic virtues of immediate topicality, > sensationalism, or inaccuracy. It was not written for publication, and it is > completely free from literary inflation of any kind. But for clearness, > accuracy, and unselfconsciousness it is quite fit to rank beside the > compilations of any modern Purchas. ... In the solid virtue of observed > detail it evokes the atmosphere of Greece and Crete during the German attack > with a fidelity I have not seen elsewhere equalled; and to those who were > there it will no doubt come as a refreshment after the scrappy sensational > prose works of the professional journalists. Certainly as a record of an > epoch-making campaign it must outlive, by its very humility and simplicity > and probity, more pretentious books.Theodore Stephanides, Climax in Crete, > Foreword by Lawrence Durrell, pp. 5–6. Lawrence's brother, Gerald Durrell, wrote on Climax in Crete as follows: > One of the best war books written and now [in 1973], alas, out of print. > Retreating across Crete with the Allied Army in World War Two, Theodore, the > most unwarlike of men, was bombed and machine-gunned with the rest by the > Germans. Yet who but Theodore would relate how, when the Stukas dived and > machine-gunned the road, he flung himself face downwards in a ditch and was > ‘interested to note’ two species of mosquito larvae he had not ‘previously > encountered’? Who but Theodore would observe that the exhausted troops, > sleeping under the olive trees, would all cease snoring without waking, as > soon as they heard the drone of an aeroplane, and would recommence snoring > as the sound died away? Alan G. Thomas wrote: > Considering that his book Climax in Crete is one of the best individual > accounts of a campaign written from the human point of view, it is to be > hoped that one day he will publish his experiences in the first war. Climax in Crete was quoted extensively by English military historian Antony Beevor in his book Crete: The Battle and the Resistance (1991). During his stay in Crete, Stephanides did an English translation of the famous German song Lili Marleen, which, according to him, "is far better than any of the others I have heard, as it is closer to the original and can be fitted more snugly to the tune". He included this translation in Climax in Crete.Theodore Stephanides, Climax in Crete, pp. 47–48. Stephanides' parents and numerous friends died in Corfu as a consequence of German strafing and bombing. Stephanides' wife Mary and daughter Alexia, who were living in London, were sent to live with the Durrells in Bournemouth during the London Blitz of 1940–1941. Stephanides' experiences in the Western Desert are described in his two memoirs, Western Desert Scramble and Western Desert and Beyond, which are kept, along with Macedonian Medley; 1917–1918, in the Imperial War Museum in London.Private Papers of Dr Theodore Stephanides in the Imperial War Museum. Neither of these three memoirs have been published yet. = Postwar period: moving to London = St Thomas' Hospital in London where Theodore Stephanides worked as an assistant radiologist after World War II. Shortly after the end of World War II, Stephanides retired from the British Army and rejoined his family in London, working as an Assistant Radiologist at St. Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth district of London, from 1945 until his retirement in 1961. The publication of Climax in Crete in 1946 was followed by two noted scientific works: The Microscope and the Practical Principles of Observation (1947), a detailed guide to microscope operation and use, and the seminal A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece (1948). In the epilogue to Island Trails, Stephanides describes how his books, scientific collections and most of his notes were destroyed during World War II in air attacks on Corfu town. However, A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece was saved by a happy chance and was published in 1948 by the Hellenic Institute of Freshwater Biology. Stephanides adds humorously: > I have never heard of it becoming a best seller in spite of the fact that it > contains, among other good things, a suggestive account of the sexual > aberrations of the water-flea Cyclops bicuspidatus Claus var. lubbocki > Brady.Theodore Stephanides, Island Trails, pp. 253–254. In 2012, Peter G. Sutton, a British biologist and science teacher, highly praised A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece: > It is no surprise that the studies of this remarkable man [Stephanides] made > their way into The Bulletin of Entomological Research ... and I have been > astonished by the fact that so many pathways of knowledge, from the > completion of a modern checklist for the Odonata, to the investigation of > water beetles, and even the study of the freshwater crab, Potamon > fluviatile, must all proceed through his original work on the freshwater > biology of the island, or risk error. ... The work of Theodore Stephanides > therefore laid the foundation for future naturalists to study the aquatic > fauna of Corfu, and my own work on the island, as well as the work of > others, has exemplified the importance of using his study as a first point > of reference. On at least two occasions, for example, literature has been > put forward describing new records for the island, only to find that > Stephanides had previously described the species of interest in his work. > One of the problems that undoubtedly led to this state of affairs (other > than an assumption that it must surely be outdated) is the rarity of the > 1948 publication, which now, apparently, resides in only seven academic > institutions worldwide. Theodore Stephanides visiting Corfu with the BBC in 1967. Stephanides continued to write and undertake research, appearing with Gerald Durrell in the BBC documentary on Corfu, The Garden of the Gods (1967). He wrote on this as follows: > Since the Second World War I have only revisited Corfu for a few months > during the summer season. The last time was in 1967, when I helped Gerald > Durrell and Christopher Parsons to complete the B.B.C. television travelogue > Corfu, Garden of the Gods.Theodore Stephanides, Island Trails, p. 253. Stephanides also worked on a proposed but unrealised collaboration with Lawrence Durrell on the history of the Karaghiozis shadow theater, which they had first encountered in Corfu in the 1930s. Stephanides describes Karaghiozis in Corfu Memoirs (chapter [9], "Lawrence Durrell and the Greek Shadow Play") and, more extensively, in Island Trails (chapter 3, "Phaeacia Again"). Lawrence Durrell also devoted a chapter to Karaghiozis in his book Prospero's Cell (chapter IV, "Karaghiosis: The Laic Hero"). Stephanides gained much praise and good standing as a poet after the back-to-back publication of his poetry collections The Golden Face (1965) and The Cities of the Mind (1969). He also went on to publish the personal collection of poems Worlds in a Crucible (1973). In addition, he continued translating the poetry of Kostis Palamas in collaboration with George Katsimbalis. Katsimbalis himself said that his own contribution was unnecessary, since Stephanides had sufficient command of both Greek and English, but Theodore seems to have felt a need for a second opinion from someone steeped in Greek literature, and his volumes, whether or not Katsimbalis contributed much to the translations, appeared under both their names. Other widely praised translation by Stephanides, that of the national Greek poem Erotocritos, was published posthumously in 1984. The volume was dedicated to Lawrence and Gerald Durrell. Marios-Byron Raizis (1931–2017), a renowned Greek-American Byronist and Romanticist, greatly praised Stephanides' talent as a poet and translator, stating: > Had Theodore Stephanides been less Greek at heart, and had he anglicised his > father's surname as Stephenson or Stevens, I believe that his fame as an > English poet and translator would have been part of the English literary > culture we all love, study, and celebrate today. In 1973, Stephanides published Island Trails, a half-fictional account of Corfu and the Ionian Islands, basically a collection of Greek folklore collected by him over the years. It was prefaced by Gerald Durrell and has since become a bibliographical rarity. Building in Corfu town (22 Mantzarou Street), where Theodore Stephanides had his laboratory and consulting rooms in the 1930s. Memorial plaque to Theodore Stephanides in Corfu town on 22 Mantzarou Street. On 15 February 1983, Stephanides appeared as a "very special surprise guest" in the UK TV programme This is Your Life (aired on 23 February 1983) with Gerald Durrell as the "subject".This Is Your Life, season 23, episode 19, release date: 23 February 1983 (UK).This Is Your Life (23 February 1983) on YouTube. Douglas Botting, Gerald Durrell's official biographer, writes on this: > There was even a film clip of Theodore Stephanides, who was apparently too > unwell to attend the show. Or so it seemed. Gerald was thunderstruck when > suddenly the real Theo stepped gingerly on to the set – frail and elderly, > but as impeccably turned-out and as sharp-witted as ever, and beaming > hugely. This was the reunion to end all reunions. Master and pupil embraced > as only two old friends whose friendship went back nearly half a century > could, knowing that it might be for the last time – as indeed it was. Then > Gerald seized Theo's hand and led him forward towards the camera, raised the > old man's hand and lifted it high above his head in a gesture of salutation, > triumph and love.Douglas Botting, Gerald Durrell: The Authorised Biography, > pp. 516–517. Theodore Stephanides died peacefully in his sleep on 13 April 1983 in the Kilburn district of London.Theodore Stephanides on Global Plants. Lawrence Durrell dedicated The Greek Islands (1978) and Gerald Durrell Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) and The Amateur Naturalist (1982) to Stephanides during his lifetime, the latter reading: > This book is for Theo (Dr Theodore Stephanides), my mentor and friend, > without whose guidance I would have achieved nothing.Gerald Durrell, The > Amateur Naturalist, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1982. On 25 May 2011, a plaque in honor of Stephanides was unveiled in Corfu town on the building where he had his laboratory and consulting rooms in the 1930s (22 Mantzarou Street).Invitation to the launch of Autumn Gleaninigs. The text is in Greek and English, the English text reading: > Theodore Stephanides, 1896–1983, doctor, scientist, writer, mentor of > Lawrence and Gerald Durrell, practised here.Corfu Blues blog, "Dr. Theodore > Stephanides, Corfu Plaque". Selected bibliography *Poems (original work by Kostis Palamas in Greek, translation to English, co-author Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales (George Katsimbalis)) (Hazell, Watson and Viney, 1925) *Modern Greek Poems (selection and translation from Greek into English, co-author Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales) (1926) *Climax in Crete (an account of the Battle of Crete) (Faber and Faber, 1946) *The Microscope and the Practical Principles of Observation (Faber and Faber, 1947) *A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece, Practika of the Hellenic Hydrobiological Institute, No. 2 (2), pp. 11–263 (1948) *"The influence of the antimosquito fish, Gambusia affinis, on the natural fauna of a Corfu lakelet" (technical article), Practika of the Hellenic Hydrobiological Institute, No. 9, pp. 3–6 (1964) *The Golden Face (collection of poems) (Fortune Press, London, 1965) *Cities of the Mind (collection of poems) (Fortune Press, London, 1969) *Three Poems (original work by Kostis Palamas in Greek, translation into English, co-author Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales) (self- published, 1969) *Worlds in a Crucible (collection of poems) (Mitre Press, 1973) *Island Trails (semi-fictional account of Corfu and other Ionian Islands) (London: Macdonald, 1973) *The Twelve Words of the Gipsy (original work by Kostis Palamas in Greek, translation into English, co-author Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales) (Oasis Books, London, 1974) *A Hundred Voices (original work by Kostis Palamas in Greek, translation to English, co-author Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales) (self-published, 1976) *Karaghiozis and the Enchanted Tree: A Modern Greek Shadow-Play Comedy (Greek Gazette, 1979) *The King's Flute (original work by Kostis Palamas in Greek, translation to English, co-author Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales) (The Kostis Palamas Institute, 1982) *Erotocritos (original work by Vitsentzos Kornaros, translated from Greek to English) (Papazissis, 1984) *Kostis Palamas: A Portrait and an Appreciation. Including Iambs and Anapaests and Ascraeus (partly original work by Kostis Palamas in Greek, translation into English, co-authors Theophanis G. Stavrou, Constantine A. Trypanis, Georgios Konstantinou Katsimpales) (Nostos Books, 1985) * Autumn Gleanings: Corfu Memoirs and Poems (original texts apparently written in the 1970s; edited by Richard Pine, Lindsay Parker, James Gifford and Anthony Hirst) (Durrell School of Corfu, International Lawrence Durrell Society, 2011) * Sweet-Voiced Sappho: Some of the Extant Poems of Sappho of Lesbos and Other Ancient Greek Poems (translated by Theodore Stephanides, edited by Anthony Hirst) (Colenso Books, London, 2015) Portrayals * In the BBC 10-episode TV series My Family and Other Animals (1987), Theodore Stephanides is played by Christopher Godwin. *In the BBC 90-minute film My Family and Other Animals (2005), Theodore Stephanides is played by Chris Langham. *In the ITV (Television Network) drama series The Durrells (2016–2019), Theodore Stephanides is played by Yorgos Karamihos.Yorgos Karamihos on IMDb. References External links *The Garden of the Gods (1967), BBC documentary featuring Gerald Durrell and Theodore Stephanides. *This Is Your Life (23 February 1983), program featuring Gerald Durrell and Theodore Stephanides. *Catherine Brown, "Corfus of the Mind", reflections on Theodore Stephanides and Alexia Stephanides-Mercouri with rare pictures. *Alexia Stephanides-Mercouri: "My father always hoped that Gerry and I would marry", interview to The Telegraph, 15 April 2017. *. Category:1896 births Category:1983 deaths Category:British naturalists Category:Greek naturalists Category:British poets Category:British writers Category:Translators from Greek Category:Greek–English translators Category:Translators of Ancient Greek texts Category:Writers from Mumbai Category:People from Corfu Category:British radiologists Category:Greek radiologists Category:British biologists Category:Greek biologists Category:20th-century British poets Category:20th-century British medical doctors Category:20th-century Greek physicians Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers Category:Greek military doctors Category:Greek military personnel of World War I Category:Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Category:20th-century biologists Category:20th-century naturalists "