Xenophon Akoglou ( el, Ξενοφών Άκογλου;

romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

: Xenofón Ákoglou) was a Greek folklore, axiomatic, writer and soldier, known as well by his nickname ''Xenos Xenitas'' (Ξένος Ξενίτας).

Biography

He was born in 1895 in Samsun of the historic region of Pontus and was son of Kosmas Akoglou and Afroditi Grigoriadi. He spent his early childhood in his mother's birthplace, Kotyora (now Ordu). He later returned to Samsun where he completed his studies after graduating from the local high school. In 1915 he came to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

where he was enlisted in the troops of the

Provisional Government of National Defence The Provisional Government of National Defence (), also known as the State of Thessaloniki (Κράτος της Θεσσαλονίκης), was a parallel administration, set up in the city of Thessaloniki by former Prime Minister Eleftherios Ve ...

based in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, taking part in the

Battle of Skra-di-Legen The Battle of Skra-di-Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two-day battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located northeast of Mount Paiko, which is north-west of Thessaloniki, on May 29–30, 1918, on the Macedonian front of World War I ...

where he was wounded. After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served in the military as a reserve lieutenant while participating in the Asia Minor Campaign. He was later stationed in the armed forces from which he was demobilized in 1935 with the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He returned to the army temporarily during the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

. He published his first writings after his demobilization in the late 1930s. In particular he published in 1939 the first volume of his work "Folklore of Kotyora" (''Λαογραφικά Κοτυώρων'') and the following year the "Ethographical stories" (''Ηθογραφικά διηγήματα''). During the war in Northern Epirus he worked with the journal ''Neoellinika Grammata'' as a correspondent, while during the Axis occupation of Greece he took charge of the folklore magazine ''Chronicles of Pontus'' (''Χρονικά του Πόντου''). In 1945 he published the book "The Miracle of Albania from the point of view of ΙΙΙ Division" (''Το θαύμα της Αλβανίας απ’ τη σκοπιά της ΙΙΙ Μεραρχίας''), which was based on his responses from the front during the war and in 1949 he published in

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

the historical drama of his entitled "Akritas" (''Ο Ακρίτας''). In the following years he collaborated with magazines such as ''Asia Minor Chronicles'' (''Μικρασιατικά Χρονικά''), the ''Pontic Center'' (''Ποντιακή Εστία''), the ''Pontic Archives'' (''Αρχείον Πόντου''), the newspaper ''Refugee World'' (''Προσφυγικός Κόσμος'') and others. He 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 December 1961. Three years after his death, the second volume of "Folklore of Kotyora" was published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akoglou, Xenophon 1895 births 1961 deaths Pontic Greeks People from Samsun Greek folklorists Greek writers 20th-century Greek military personnel Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece