AdamantiosKoraes

AdamantiosKoraes (27 April 1748- 6 April 1833)was born and raised in Smyrn4 andgraduated from theEvangelical Greek School. He waspassionate abouthis education;particularly philosophy, literature and linguistics. Koraes continuedhis studiesin Europe,graduating from theSchool of Medicineof the Universityof Montpellierin France,and living mostof his life asan expatriateand classicalscholar in Paris.There, he witnessedthe FrenchRevolution and was influencedby the liberal sentimentsof TheEnlightenment He admiredThomas Jeffersonand the two hadpolitical and philosophical exchanges. Koraes is credited '*,,rithlaying the foundationsof ModernGreek literafure and was a majorfigure in theGreek Enligtrttenment. His acti.ritieslaid the intellechlalfoundations of the Greek-lMarfor Indepenclenee.

One of his greatestaccomplishments was redefiningthe Modem GreekLanguage into a more purified form, known asKatharevousa. The Greekswere dispersedacross Europe and the OftomanEmpire. Various forms of the languagewere in use,even in mainlandGreece. Koraes wanted to purgethe languageof foreign elements, bringing it closerto the Classicform of Ancient Greek.These efforts ultimately led to his publishingofthe Ataloa, the frstModem Greekdictionary.

Koraesbelieved that educationwould ensureGreek independence, and the establishmentofa constitutionfor the newly liberatedGreek state. He envisioneda democraticGreece, recapturingthe Golden Age of Pericles.He encouragedwealthy Greeksto openlibraries andnew schoolsin Greece.He engagedin extensivewriting and translationsof Greektexts, andhis literary contributionsare still amongthe most enduring.He translated ancientGreek authors and produced thirty volumesofthose translationsincluding works by Hippocrates, Theophrastus,Strabo, Herodofus, and his main literary work, the seventeenvolume Library of GreekLiterature.

Koraesalso influencedGreek Law tlrough his personalrelationship with N. I. Saripolos,the fnst professorof ConstitutionalLaw ofthe University ofAthens, who presidedover the committeethat draftedthe first Greek Constitution.His political writings beganwith the publication,at the openingof the nineteenthcenry, of Asma Polemistirion (War Chant)and Salpisma.Polemistirion (Military Bugle Call), celebratingthe presenceof Greeksfighting alongsidethe Frenchin Egypt. In 1803he publishedhis report ThePresent State of Civilization in Greece,based on a seriesof lectureshe had given in Paris,extolling the link betweenthe rise ofa new Greek mercantileclass and the advantagethe GreekEnlightenment or Diafotismoscould give to nationalaspirations for independencefrom the Ottomanyoke.

Koraeswas a GreekOrthodox, but was a fierce critic ofthe policy ofthe EcumenicalPatriarch of Constantinopleat the time, againsta nationaluprising; consideringit a usefrrltool in the handsof the Ottomans againstthe Greekstruggle for independence.He was a supporterof religious freedomand tolerance. He was also one of the supportersof the newly established AutonomousChurch of Greece.

AdamantiosKoraes died in Parisat the ageof84 soonater publishingthe first volume ofhis autobiography.In 1877,his remainswere retumedto Greeceand were buried in the First Cemeteryin Athens.

Furtherreading: l. htto://en.wikipedia.org:/wiWAdamantios_Korais 2. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/322I 20lAdamantios- Koraishtto://www.uc.otlfluc/eclassicoVpublicacoeVficheiroVhumanitas49/15Droulia.pdf 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lv6m3lvckE&sns=em d The GreekNational Anthem YMNOI EII THN EAEYOEPIAN*

fe yvtrtpi(trran6 Tnvrcor.[,rt rou onaOtoOrrlv rpopepr1, oe Vv@pi(tosn6 rqv 6St, nou pe pta petpd€trq Vn.

Arr'ta r6rrql,a pyatrpevq Tt,.rvEMqvulv rq, repa, KCrtoq,v nptircr cv6petop6vr1, 1atpe,ul 1alpe,EAeu0eprd!

* ** * :f * ** * * ** * * * ** *** * *

+ The Hymn to Liberty (Greek: "YFvoE sq rqv El,uu0epiw") is a poem written by Dionysios Solomos (Atov6otoq foltrrp6g 1798-tAS7) in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzasand is the longest Hymn in the world, set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros. In 1865,the first two stanzasofficially becamethe national anthem of Greece-

Th e-Americantrfati o n aI Anthe m TheStar-Spangled Banner* *

O! saycan you see by the dawn'searly light, What so proudlywe hailedat the twilight'slast gleaming, Whosebroad stripes and brightstars through the perilousfight, O'erthe rampartswe watched,were so gallantlystreaming? And the rockets'red glare,the bombsbursting in air, Gaveproof throughthe nightthat our flagwas still there; O! saydoes that star-spangledbanner yet wave, O'erthe landof the freeand the homeof the brave?

********************** '* It is the Frrstof four versesof the actual poem that Fruucis Scoa Key, a 35 year old larvyer, wrote- The lyrics come from "Defenceof Fort McHenqr", a poem he rvrote in l814 after rvitnessingthe bombardmentof Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in ChesapeakeBay during the Banle of Fort McHenn, in the War of l812. The music rvasrvritten 34 yearsearlier by John Stttfford Srttith,an Englishcomposer. It rvasmade the nationalanthem by a congressionalresolution in 193| and signedby PresidentHerbert Hoover.

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