Emmanuel Rhoides ( gr, Ἐμμανουὴλ Ῥοΐδης; 28 June 1836 – 7 January 1904) was a Greek writer and journalist.
Biography
Born in
Hermoupolis
Ermoupoli ( el, Ερμούπολη), also known by the formal older name Ermoupolis or Hermoupolis ( el, < "Town of "), is a to ...
, the capital of the island of
Syros, to a family of rich aristocrats
from
Chios — who had fled the island after the
massacre of its population by the Ottomans in 1822 — he spent much of his youth abroad. Rhoides was erudite and at a young age had mastered not only the languages of continental
Europe, but also
ancient Greek and
Latin.
His early youth years he spent in
Genoa,
Italy in the times of the
Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states and the
revolt of Genoa
The revolt of Genoa took place between Thursday 5 April and Wednesday 11 April 1849. Genoa was then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, but had only become so comparatively recently, after the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. The uprising ...
. He studied
history,
literature and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
in
Berlin, and later in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
,
Romania where his merchant father had transferred the centre of his business activities.
Obeying a parental wish, he moved to
Athens, where he printed the translation of
Chateaubriand's ''Itinéraires''. In 1860, after a brief sojourn in
Egypt, he decided to live and stay permanently in
Athens.
Later in his life, he would become very poor, especially with the bankruptcy of the family business, and the subsequent suicide of his beloved brother Nicholas. He eked out his last years by working as a curator for the
National Library of Greece. But, even from this position he was dismissed in 1902, when he got into a political dispute with the government.
Rhoides suffered all through his life from a serious hearing problem, which eventually impaired his sense to near deafness.
In 1866 Rhoides published a controversial novel, ''The Papess Joanne'' (''Ἡ Πάπισσα Ἰωάννα''), an exploration of the legend of
Pope Joan, a supposed female pope who reigned some time in the ninth or tenth century (which was in fact a time of great turmoil for the papacy). Though a romantic novel with satirical overtones, Rhoides asserted it contained conclusive evidence that Pope Joan truly existed and that the
Catholic Church had been attempting to cover up the fact for centuries. The novel was admired by
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
and
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics.
Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...
and freely translated by
Lawrence Durrell as ''The Curious History of Pope Joan'' in 1954.
The book's scathing attacks on what he viewed as an uneducated, uncultured, superstitious and backward clergy were controversial, and led to Rhoides's excommunication from the
Greek Orthodox Church which perceived that its own clergy was the real target of those attacks.
Rhoides often adopted a clear-cut critical stance against the
romanticism in literature and poetry and often was poignant and sarcastic to the romance writers and poets of his time. Rhoides, amongst his numerous translations, became the first to translate the works of
Edgar Allan Poe into Greek. He wrote frequently in many newspapers and magazines, and published his own satirical newspaper called ''
Asmodaios''.
He has expressed the
misogynistic view that "Two professions are fit for women: housewife and prostitute".
Quotes
*"Each place suffers from something, England from fog, Romania from locusts, Egypt from eye diseases, and Greece from the Greeks." - Emmanuel Rhoides
References
*Biography of Rhoides in
Short Stories from Syros'
Mavrelos N., Roidis’ tangible images and Baudelaire’s paintings of modern life. Aspects of Modernity in Emmanouíl Roidis’ works, Lambert Academic Publishing 2018.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoides, Emmanuel
1836 births
1904 deaths
People from Ermoupoli
19th-century Greek writers
19th-century male writers
People excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox Church