Demetrios Bernardakis ( el, Δημήτριος Βερναρδάκης, ''Dimitrios Vernardakis'', also transliterated ''Dimitrios Bernardakis''), (3 December 1833—25 January 1907) was a polymath writer and Professor of History at the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

Biographical sketch

He was born at Agia Marina,

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Anatolia, Asia Minor ...

(just south of Mytilene).Βερναρδάκης Δημήτριος
ΕΚΕΒΙ His father was Nikolaos Vernardakis, originally from Crete, while his mother was Melissini, of the Trantalis family. His brothers were the learned

Athanasios Bernardakis Athanasios ( el, Αθανάσιος), also transliterated as Athnasious, Athanase or Atanacio, is a Greek male name which means "immortal". In modern Greek everyday use, it is commonly shortened to Thanasis (Θανάσης), Thanos (Θάνος), S ...

and

Gregorios Bernardakis Gregorios N. Bernardakis ( el, Γρηγόριος Ν. Βερναρδάκης, translit. ''Grigorios N. Vernardakis'', Neo-Latin language, Neolatin ''Gregorius N. Bernardakis'', b. Mytilene 1848, d. 1925) was a Greek people, Greek linguist, philol ...

. He studied on a scholarship given to him by Patriarch Alexandros Kallinikos from present-day

Skotina Skotina () is a rural settlement of the former municipality of East Olympos, itself part of the municipality of Dion-Olympos, in the Pieria regional unit, Central Macedonia, Greece. Name The name is taken due to handmade costumes (woolen fabric ...

, Pieria. A prolific writer, he translated and annotated the tragedies of

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

(''

The Phoenician Women ''The Phoenician Women'' ( grc, Φοίνισσαι, ''Phoinissai'') is a tragedy by Euripides, based on the same story as Aeschylus' play ''Seven Against Thebes''. It was presented along with the tragedies ''Hypsipyle'' and '' Antiope.'' With this ...

Hecuba Hecuba (; also Hecabe; grc, Ἑκάβη, Hekábē, ) was a queen in Greek mythology, the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War. Description Hecuba was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the ''Chronography'' as "da ...

, Hippolytus'', and '' Medea)'', but he became known chiefly for the sake of his own verse dramas, with which he wanted to create a romantic Greek theatre, taking as his example

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, and Greek history. His works had 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 and 1905The Nomination Database for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1901–1950
nobelprize.org — for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Selected works

Theatrical

* Μαρία Δοξαπατρή (''Maria Doxapatri'' 1857) * Κυψελίδαι (''The Beehive'', 1858) * Μερόπη (''Merope'', 1865) * Ευφροσύνη (''Euphrosyne'', 1876) * Φαύστα (''Fausta'', 1893) * Αντιόπη (''Antiope'', 1895) * Νικηφόρος Φωκάς (''Nicephorus Phocas'', 1905)

Linguistic

* Ελληνική Γραμματική εις χρήσιν των Ελληνικών σχολείων (''Greek Grammar for use in Greek schools'', 1864–1865) * Ψευδαττικισμού έλεγχος (''The control of illusion'', 1884)

Historical

* Γενική Ιστορία (''General History'', 1867)

Theological

* Ιερά Κατήχησις (''Sacred Catechisis'', endorsed in 1872 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as the best available biblical catechesis recommended for schooldchildren)

References

External links

Vernardakis Dimitrios
– ''Pandektis'' profile from the Institute for Neohellenic Research
Η αποκατάσταση του Αριστοτέλη του Κώστα Γεωργουσόπουλου (mention in "The Restoration of Aristotle" by Kostas Yorgopoulos
''

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' ( el, Τα Νέα, italic=yes; Translation: ''The News'') is a daily newspaper published in Athens. It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), which also published the newspaper '' To Vima''. The assets of DOL were acquired in 2017 b ...

'', 20/10/07, preview only, subscription required)
List of quotes listed in the Lexicon of Quotes and Aphorisms under Dimitrios Vernardakis (in Greek)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardakis, Demetrios 1833 births 1907 deaths Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens People from Mytilene 19th-century Greek educators 19th-century Greek writers Greek dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Greek dramatists and playwrights