Aganice Ainianos ( el, Αγανίκη Αινιάνος Μαζαράκη; 1838–1892) was a Greek poet.

Biography

Ainianos was born in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 1838. Her father was the Greek politician (1788–1848), a founder of the secret society

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. (''ret ...

. She was orphaned at an early age and was raised by her uncle, , who was involved in the uprising against King

Otto of Greece Otto (, ; 1 June 181526 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludw ...

. They were forced to flee to the mountains and lived in hiding. During her childhood, she studied French, painting, and the Classics. She returned to live with her relatives in Athens, studying mathematics at the

Arsakeio Arsakeion (Greek: Αρσάκειον), or Arsakeio (Αρσάκειο), is the name of a group of co-educational independent schools in Greece, administered by the ''Philekpaideutikē Etaireía'' (Φιλεκπαιδευτική Εταιρεία, "S ...

and graduating at the age of 17. She then studied ancient Greek writers, French poets and prose writers. She married Ioannis Mazarakis in Kythnos in 1860. Her children were

Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, 1869–1949) was a Hellenic Army officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. Life Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian was born in the island of Kyth ...

(b. 1869),

Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian ( el, Αλέξανδρος Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, 1874–1943) was a Hellenic Army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general. He served thrice as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, occupied va ...

(b. 1874), and Philippos Mazarakis-Ainian. Ainianos composed poetry for herself. Her experience living in the countryside provided context for her poetry, especially her poems about impoverished working women, nature, and beauty. She wrote in the Greek vernacular rather than

Katharevousa Katharevousa ( el, Καθαρεύουσα, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contempor ...

and her style revealed a sense of realism, free of the age's pseudo-romanticism. Ainianos died in 1892. Her works were not published before her death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainianos, Aganice 1838 births 1892 deaths 19th-century Greek poets Greek women poets Writers from Athens 19th-century Greek women writers People from Ypati