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Emmanuel Rhoides (; 28 June 1836 – 7 January 1904) was a Greek writer, journalist, and translator. He is considered one of the most influential writers of 19th century Greece and a significant figure of
Modern Greek literature Modern Greek literature is literature written in Modern Greek, starting in the late Byzantine era in the 11th century AD. It includes work not only from within the borders of the modern Greek state, but also from other areas where Greek was wid ...
. His most popular work, ''
The Papess Joanne ''The Papess Joanne'' () is a 1866 novel by Greek writer Emmanuel Rhoides. Published with the subtitle "medieval study", the novel is an exploration of the European legend of Pope Joan, a woman who allegedly ascended the church hierarchy and re ...
'', was translated in several languages earning him international recognition throughout Europe. His complete literary corpus includes
novels A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of '' ...
,
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
,
essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
, and translations.


Biography

Rhoides was born in 1836 in Hermoupolis, the capital of the Aegean island of
Syros Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...
, to a family of rich aristocrats from
Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...
—Demetrios () Rhoides and Kornelia (née Rhodokanakes; )—who had fled the island after the massacre of its population by the Ottomans in 1822. Rhoides spent much of his youth abroad. An erudite student, he began to master from a young age several European languages, as well as
ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
and
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
. In 1841, his family moved to
Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
where his father served as an honorary Greek consul. During this time, he witnessed the
Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states The 1848 Revolutions in the Italian states, part of the wider Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, were organized revolts in the states of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italian ...
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 ...
; events that left a mark on him, as he later acknowledged. At 13 years old, was sent back to Syros, where he attended the Greek-American highschool of Evangelides. There he published a weekly handwritten newspaper called "Melissa", along with his classmate and future writer,
Demetrios Vikelas Demetrios Vikelas (; ; 15 February 1835 – 20 July 1908) was a Greek businessman and writer; he was the co-founder and first president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), from 1894 to 1896. After a childhood spent in Greece and Is ...
. After graduating highschool in 1855, Rhoides settled in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in pursuit of higher education, as well as treatment for the hearing problem he had developed during his school years. In Berlin, he studied
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
, and
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. Due to the deterioration of his hearing, he moved to
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...
,
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
in 1857, where his merchant father had transferred the headquarters of his business, and worked in the correspondence of his uncle's trading company. He secretly began working on the translation of Chateaubriand's ''Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem'', which his uncle discovered and urged him to publish. The complete translation of Chateaubriand's ''Itineraire'' (''Odoiporikon''), along with a few more of his works, were eventually published in
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, where he moved with his family a few years later. The success of his ''Itineraire'' in the early 1860s strengthened the author's desire to pursue a career in letters. He would later go on to write numerous translations, and became the first to translate the works of
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
into Greek. The family briefly stayed in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
for the treatment of his mother, but after his father's sudden death in 1862, Rhoides' brother stayed in Genoa, while he and Kornelia decided to move permanently to Athens, where the author devoted himself to the pursuit of letters. In 1866 Rhoides published his most popular work, ''
The Papess Joanne ''The Papess Joanne'' () is a 1866 novel by Greek writer Emmanuel Rhoides. Published with the subtitle "medieval study", the novel is an exploration of the European legend of Pope Joan, a woman who allegedly ascended the church hierarchy and re ...
'' (Ἡ Πάπισσα Ἰωάννα), an exploration of the European legend of
Pope Joan Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) is a woman who purportedly reigned as popess (female pope) for two years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. ...
, a supposed female pope who reigned some time in the late ninth century, a time of great turmoil for the papacy. He first heard about the legend in Genoa as a child and, intrigued by the story, he did extensive research in Germany, Italy, and Greece, collecting important material for his novel. Though a romance with satirical overtones, Rhoides titled his work a "medieval study" and asserted it contained conclusive evidence that Pope Joan had truly existed. Initially controversial, the novel was eventually established as a classic and one of the few comic masterpieces of
Modern Greek literature Modern Greek literature is literature written in Modern Greek, starting in the late Byzantine era in the 11th century AD. It includes work not only from within the borders of the modern Greek state, but also from other areas where Greek was wid ...
. It was admired by
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
and
Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...
and freely translated by
Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial pa ...
as ''The Curious History of Pope Joan'' in 1954. In the following years, Rhoides worked with French-language newspapers, and in 1870 he became director of the newspapers ''La Grèce'' and ''L'Independence Hellenique''. A philologist, Rhoides was not interested in finances, as a result the family property began to collapse. In 1873 he lost almost all of his fortune that he had invested in shares of the Lavrio Company. Following the bankruptcy of the family business, his beloved brother Nicholas committed suicide in 1884. Fearing her reaction, Rhoides did not reveal the news to his mother and kept sending her letters through a friend from Italy under his brother's name. Rhoides suffered all through his life from a serious hearing problem, which eventually impaired his sense to near deafness. He continued to write frequently in many newspapers and magazines, and between 1875 and 1885 he published his own satirical newspaper called '' Asmodaios'', along with his friend and cartoonist, Themos Annino''s''. Signing his articles with various pseudonyms, he commented on the public and political life of Greece and often sided with the policies of
Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis (; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of confidence in the Greek constitution, p ...
. In 1877, starting with his article titled "''On Contemporary Greek Poetry''", he entered in a public dispute with politician and writer Aggelos Vlachos regarding the influences and character of contemporary Greek poetry. Rhoides often adopted a clear-cut critical stance against the
romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
in literature and poetry, and was often poignant and sarcastic to the romantic writers and poets of his time. He published a series of essays, where he supported for the use of the
Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used t ...
language, even though he himself wrote his texts in the literary language of
Katharevousa Katharevousa (, , 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 contemporary vernacular, Demotic ...
. He considered the vernacular Demotic to be equal to Katharevousa in richness, precision, and clarity and advocated for the merging of the two in one language, so as to avoid the
diglossia In linguistics, diglossia ( , ) is where two dialects or languages are used (in fairly strict compartmentalization) by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety (labeled "L" or "low" v ...
of the time. In 1878 he was appointed director of the
National Library of Greece The National Library of Greece () is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to locate, collect, organize, describe and preserve the perpetual evidence of Greek culture and its ...
, where he worked during the governments of Trikoupis, and was dismissed by the governments of Deligiannis. In 1885 he had a serious accident when he was hit by a carriage, which left him unable to speak for months, and by 1890 he lost his hearing permanently. In the period 1890–1900, he published most of his purely narrative work, which includes several short stories. Until the end of his life he collaborated with many magazines and newspapers of the time, in which he published short stories and articles. He died in Athens on January 7 1904.


Quotes

*"Each place suffers from something, England from fog, Romania from locusts, Egypt from eye diseases, and Greece from the Greeks." - Emmanuel Rhoides


References


Sources

* * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoides, Emmanuel 1836 births 1904 deaths People from Ermoupoli 19th-century Greek writers 19th-century Greek male writers People excommunicated by Eastern Orthodox Church bodies