Andreas Kalvos facts for kids

Andreas Kalvos (born April 1, 1792 – died November 3, 1869) was an important Greek poet. He was part of the Romantic movement in literature. Kalvos published several books of poems and plays, including Lyra (1824) and New Odes (1826). He lived at the same time as famous poets like Ugo Foscolo and Dionysios Solomos. Kalvos was also a key member of the Heptanese School of literature, which was a group of writers from the Ionian Islands. There are no known pictures of him.

He is honored at the Museum of Solomos and Eminent Zakynthians.

Who Was Andreas Kalvos?

Andreas Kalvos was born in April 1792 on the island of Zacynthos. At that time, the island was ruled by the Venetian Republic. He was the older of two sons born to Ioannes and Andriane Calvos. His mother came from a well-known family that owned land.

In 1802, when Andreas was ten, his father took him and his younger brother, Nicolaos, to Livorno, Italy. His uncle was a consul there, and there was a Greek community. Andreas and Nicolaos never saw their mother again. In Livorno, Andreas began studying ancient Greek and Latin literature and history.

In 1811, while in Livorno, he wrote an Italian poem called Hymn to Napoleon. This poem was against war, but Kalvos later said he didn't agree with it anymore. Around this time, he also worked as a secretary in Pisa for a few months. Then, he moved to Florence, which was a lively center for art and ideas.

Meeting Ugo Foscolo

In 1812, Kalvos's father passed away, and he faced money problems. However, that same year, he met Ugo Foscolo. Foscolo was a very respected Italian poet and scholar, and he was also from Zacynthos. Foscolo hired Kalvos as a copyist (someone who copies texts). He also had Kalvos teach one of his students.

Because of Foscolo, Kalvos became interested in neoclassicism (an art style that looked back to ancient Greek and Roman ideas). He also became interested in old-fashioned writing styles and liberalism (a political idea about freedom and equal rights). In 1813, Kalvos wrote three plays in Italian: Theramenes, Danaïdes, and Hippias. He also wrote four dramatic monologues in the neoclassical style.

Life in Europe

In late 1813, Foscolo moved to Zurich, Switzerland, because of his "advanced" ideas. Kalvos stayed in Florence and continued to teach. In 1814, he wrote another Italian poem, 'To the Ionians'. This poem showed his support for his fellow islanders. During this time, he also studied the works of Rousseau.

In 1816, Kalvos went to join Foscolo in Switzerland. He also learned that his mother had died a year earlier. This made him very sad, which you can see in his poem Ode to Death.

By the end of 1816, the two poets traveled to Britain. They stayed in London until February 1817, when they had a disagreement and went their separate ways. Kalvos made a living by teaching Italian and Greek. He also translated Anglican church services into Italian and Greek. In 1818 and 1819, he gave talks about how to pronounce ancient Greek. He also wrote a grammar book for modern Greek.

Kalvos married Maria Theresa Thomas and they had a daughter. Sadly, his wife died in 1819, and his daughter passed away shortly after.

In early 1820, Kalvos left Britain. In September 1820, he stopped in Paris briefly on his way back to Florence.

Return to Greece

In Florence, Kalvos became involved with the Carbonari, a secret revolutionary group. He was arrested and sent away on April 23, 1821. He went to Geneva, where he found support from people who loved Greece (called philhellenes). He worked as a language teacher again.

When the Greek War of Independence began, Kalvos was very excited. He wrote several poems in Greek. In 1824, he published Lyra, a collection of ten Greek odes (poems). These odes were quickly translated into French and were well-received.

In early 1825, Kalvos returned to Paris. In 1826, he published ten more Greek odes, called Lyrica, with money from philhellenes.

In July 1826, Kalvos decided to travel to Greece himself. He landed at Nauplion. However, he was soon disappointed by the disagreements among the Greeks. He also felt that they didn't care about him or his work. In August of that year, he moved to Cercyra (Corfu).

On Corfu, he taught as a private tutor at the Ionian Academy. In 1836, he was officially appointed to the Academy. He was also the director of the Corfiot Gymnasium (a school) in 1841, but he resigned by the end of the year. He also wrote for local newspapers. For many years, he and the poet Dionysios Solomos both lived on Corfu, but they didn't seem to know each other. This might have been because of Kalvos's difficult personality. After 1826, Kalvos stopped publishing poetry.

Later Life and Legacy

In late 1852, Kalvos left Corfu and returned to Britain. On February 5, 1853, he married Charlotte Augusta Wadams, who was twenty years younger than him. They settled in Louth, Lincolnshire, where they ran a school for girls.

Andreas Kalvos died on November 3, 1869, in Louth. His wife died in 1888. They were buried in the graveyard of St Margaret's church in Keddington, near Louth.

In June 1960, the poet George Seferis, who was then the Greek ambassador to Britain, arranged for Kalvos's remains to be moved to Zacynthos. His remains now rest in the church of St Nicolas on his home island.

Works

• Ελπίς Πατρίδος (Hope of Homeland)
• Λύρα -- ᾨδαὶ Ἀνδρέα Κάλβου ['Lyre – Odes of Andreas Calvos'] (1824 Geneva) (text at Greek Wikisource)
• Λυρικά [= 'Lyrics'] (1826)
• Hippias
• Le Danaidi (1818)
• Theramenes (1813)
• The Seasons (Le Stagioni -- Giovanni Meli)
• Italian Lessons in Four Parts (1820)
• ᾨδὴ είς Ἰονίους Ode agli Ionii [= 'Ode to the Ionians'] (1814)
• Σχέδιο Νέων Ἀρχῶν τῶν Γραμμάτων [= 'A Plan of New Principles of Letters']
• Έρευνα περὶ τῆς Φύσεως τοῦ Διαφορικοῦ Ὑπολογισμοῦ [= 'Introduction to Differential Calculus'] (1827)
• Ugo Foscolo, Grazie [publication of unpublished abstracts] (1846)
• Canzone (1811)
• Βιβλίον τῶν Δημοσίων Προσευχῶν [= 'Book of Common Prayer'] (1820)
• Γραμματικὴ τῆς Νέας Ἑλληνικῆς Γλώσσης [= 'Grammar of the modern Grek language'] (1822)
• Ἐπίκρισις Θεολογική [= 'Theological Criticism'] (1849)