Elias Venezis ( el, Ηλίας Βενέζης) (March 4, 1904 - August 3, 1973) is the pseudonym of Elias Mellos (), a major Greek

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. He was born in 1904 in Ayvalık (Kydonies) in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and died 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 1973. He wrote many books, of which the most famous are ''

Number 31328 ''Number 31328'' ( el, Το Νούμερο 31328) is an autobiographical novel by Elias Venezis. It tells of his experiences as a captive of the Turkish Army on a death march into the Anatolian interior. Background During the Greek genocide, ...

'' and ''Aeolian Earth''. He is considered to be one of the writers of "

Generation of the '30s The Generation of the '30s () was a group of Greek writers, poets, artists, intellectuals, critics, and scholars who made their debut in the 1930s and introduced modernism in Greek art and literature. The Generation of the '30s is also cited as a so ...

Biography

Elias Venezis was born and raised in Aivali (the hellenized pronunciation of ), where he completed high school. During the

Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, Venezis’ family fled from Aivali to

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 ...

to avoid persecution but returned to

after the Greek army took over

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

and its hinterland in 1919. When the area was recaptured by the Turkish Army, Venezis was taken prisoner and enslaved in a “

labour battalion Labour battalions have been a form of alternative service or unfree labour in various countries in lieu of or resembling regular military service. In some cases they were the result of some kind of discriminative segregation of the population, wh ...

”. He was 18 years old. The prisoners were marched into the interior, but few arrived at the destination, since most of them were either killed on the way, or died of the hardships they were exposed to. Of the 3000 "conscripted" into his “labour brigade” only 23 survived. When Venezis was released he was returned to Lesbos. There he met

Stratis Myrivilis Efstratios Stamatopoulos (30 June 1890 – 19 July 1969) was a Greek writer. He is known for writing novels, novellas, and short stories under the pseudonym Stratis Myrivilis . He is associated with the "Generation of the '30s". He was nominated ...

, who had founded the weekly newspaper ''Kambana'', and was encouraged by him to write an account of "his horrific experiences as a hostage in Turkey" for the newspaper. The novel which resulted was published in serialised form in ''Kambana'' in 1924. However it did not become well known in Greece until an expanded version was published in book form in 1931. His major novels are about his life in Asia Minor: ''Aeolian Land'' describes the lost Eden of his childhood summers; ''

'' the horrific experience of the death marches, and ''Tranquility'' his struggle to adjust to living in Greece. In Greece, Venezis worked for a bank while writing in his spare time. He married Stavritsa Molyviati in 1938. She too was from Aivali. During the German occupation of Greece, Venezis was taken prisoner again. He was released following the intercession of high-ranking Greek officials including

Archbishop Damaskinos Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou ( el, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Δαμασκηνός Παπανδρέου), born Dimitrios Papandreou ( el, Δημήτριος Παπανδρέου; 3 March 1891 – 20 May 1949) was the archbishop of Athens ...

. After the war, Venezis wrote a column in the newspaper ''Acropolis''. He was made a member of the Academy of Athens.

Books by Elias Venezis

*''

'' (''Το Νούμερο 31328'', 1924; 1931) *''Manolis Lekas and Other Stories'' (1928) *''Tranquility'' (''Γαλήνη'', 1939) *''Aeolian Earth'' (''Αιολική Γη'', 1943) *''Block C'' (play, 1945) *''Exodus'' (''Έξοδος'', 1950)

Books in English

*''Elias Venezis'' by Alexander & Helen Karanikas (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1969) *''Block C'' by Elias Venezis (Athens: I.D. Kollarou, 1946) *''Aeolia'' by Elias Venezis, trans. E. D. Scott-Kilvert (London: William Campion, 1949; New York: Vanguard Press, 1957)Also found a catalogue entry with a different title and date:''Beyond the Aegean'' by Elias Venezis, trans. E. D. Scott-Kilvert (New York: Vanguard Press, 1956) *''Aiolian Land'' by Elias Venezis (Montréal: McGill University, 1979) in the series The McGill University Companions to Modern Greek Studies *''Land of Aeolia'' by Ilias Venezis - Therese Sellers (Translator) - Denise Harvey 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venezis 1904 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Greek novelists Anatolian Greeks Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Generation of the '30s People from Lesbos People from Ayvalık