Theodore Stephanides
Encyclopedia
Theodore Stephanides was a Greek
poet, author, doctor and naturalist. He is best remembered as the friend and mentor of the famous naturalist Gerald Durrell
, featuring in Durrell's My Family and Other Animals
and Fillets of Plaice, Durrell's brother Lawrence
's Prospero's Cell, and Henry Miller
's The Colossus of Maroussi
.
A polymath
, Stephanides was respected as a scientist and doctor, and acclaimed as a poet in both Greek
and English
, and translated a sizeable body of Greek poetry to English — notably a significant body of work by Greek poet Kostis Palamas
and the Greek near-epic work Erotocritos.
He was also a noted biologist and scientist who has three species named after him (Cytherois stephanidesi, Thermocyclops
stephanidesi, and Schizopera stephanidesi are microscopic water organisms discovered by Stephanides in 1938). He also wrote a definitive biological treatise on the freshwater life in Corfu
, which is still cited in the 2000s. His autobiographical account of the Battle of Crete
- Climax in Crete, and his factual account of Corfu
and the Ionian Islands
- Island Trails are widely read.
to Greek parents, hailing from Thessaly
. He spent his early years in Bombay. At age 11, after his father's retirement, he went to live in Corfu
with his family, learning Greek
there.
Stephanides served as a gunner in the Greek Army during World War I
on the Greek Macedonia
n front, and again in the War in Asia Minor, 1919-1922 against Turkey
.
He published two works of translated poetry in 1925 and 1926, but pursuing an alternative career path, went to Paris
in 1929, to study Medicine
.
He returned to Corfu
in 1930 to establish the island's first X-ray
unit. He married Mary Alexander, granddaughter of a former British Consul and of English
and Greek parentage, shortly afterwards.
He started Corfu
field work in 1933, based on directives from Corfiat health authorities, to prepare a report on the principal localities where anti-malaria
l measures would be necessary. It was around this time, in 1936, that he was introduced to the Durrell family, including Gerald Durrell
and Lawrence Durrell
, who would remain life-long friends. Stephanides would later send Lawrence Durrell
medicines for the British Embassy in Cyprus
(as noted from correspondence in Spirit of Place: Letters and Essays on Travel" (1969), by Lawrence Durrell
). He would also be a meticulous proof-reader for Gerald Durrell
's My Family and Other Animals
, and Lawrence Durrell
's The Greek Islands.
Stephanides left Corfu
in 1938, moving to Salonica and undertaking work with an anti-malarial unit founded by the Rockefeller Foundation
.
A veteran of World War I
, Stephanides served as a Doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps
in Greece
, Crete
, Sicily
and the Sahara
in the period 1939 to 1945. His account of the Battle of Crete
- Climax in Crete - criticizes Allied war policy. His parents and numerous friends died in Corfu
due to German
strafing and bombing. Stephanides' wife Mary and daughter Alexia, who were living in London
, were sent to live with the Durrells in Bournemouth
during the London Blitz of 1940 - 1941.
Stephanides re-joined his family in London
after World War II
, working as an Assistant Radiologist at St. Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth
over the period of 1945 - 1961. He published the widely-circulated Climax in Crete in 1946. It was during this period that he published his two noted works in science: The Microscope and the Practical Principles of Observation (1947) - a guide to microscope
operation and use - and the seminal A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece (1948).
Stephanides gained much praise and good standing as a poet after the back-to-back publication of his poetry collections The Golden Face (1965) and The Cities of the Mind (1969). He also went on to publish the personal collection of poems Worlds in a Crucible (1973). He also published a substantial body of translated poetry based on the works of the famous Greek poet Kostis Palamas
ending with the posthumous publication of Kostis Palamas: A Portrait and an Appreciation including Iambs and Anapaests and Ascraeus in 1985. His other widely-praised translation, that of the Greek poem Erotocritos, was also published posthumously, in 1984. Among his other books, Island Trails - a factual account of Corfu
and the Ionian Islands
- is a well-recognized but rare book.
Theodore Stephanides died on 13 April 1983. Lawrence Durrell dedicated The Greek Islands (1978) and Gerald Durrell Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) and The Amateur Naturalist (1982) to Stephanides during his living years. Gerald Durrell's dedication in The Amateur Naturalist is to the mentorship he received from Stephanides, and reads:
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
poet, author, doctor and naturalist. He is best remembered as the friend and mentor of the famous naturalist Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
, featuring in Durrell's My Family and Other Animals
My Family and Other Animals
My Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of the part of his childhood he spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell Family on the island in a humorous manner, and also richly discusses the fauna...
and Fillets of Plaice, Durrell's brother Lawrence
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
's Prospero's Cell, and Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
's The Colossus of Maroussi
The Colossus of Maroussi
The Colossus of Maroussi is an impressionist travelogue by Henry Miller, written in 1939 and first published in 1941 by Colt Press of San Francisco. As an impoverished writer in need of rejuvenation, Miller travelled to Greece at the invitation of his friend, the writer Lawrence Durrell. The text...
.
A polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
, Stephanides was respected as a scientist and doctor, and acclaimed as a poet in both Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and translated a sizeable body of Greek poetry to English — notably a significant body of work by Greek poet Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School along with Georgios Drosinis, Nikos Kampas, Ioanis Polemis.-Biography:Born in Patras, he...
and the Greek near-epic work Erotocritos.
He was also a noted biologist and scientist who has three species named after him (Cytherois stephanidesi, Thermocyclops
Thermocyclops
Thermocyclops is a genus of crustacean in family Cyclopidae. It was first described and later extensively researched by Friedrich Kiefer, who discovered some 20 species...
stephanidesi, and Schizopera stephanidesi are microscopic water organisms discovered by Stephanides in 1938). He also wrote a definitive biological treatise on the freshwater life in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, which is still cited in the 2000s. His autobiographical account of the Battle of Crete
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
- Climax in Crete, and his factual account of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
- Island Trails are widely read.
Biography
Theodore Stephanides was born in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Greek parents, hailing from Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
. He spent his early years in Bombay. At age 11, after his father's retirement, he went to live in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
with his family, learning Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
there.
Stephanides served as a gunner in the Greek Army during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on the Greek Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
n front, and again in the War in Asia Minor, 1919-1922 against Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
He published two works of translated poetry in 1925 and 1926, but pursuing an alternative career path, went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1929, to study Medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
.
He returned to Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
in 1930 to establish the island's first X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
unit. He married Mary Alexander, granddaughter of a former British Consul and of English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Greek parentage, shortly afterwards.
He started Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
field work in 1933, based on directives from Corfiat health authorities, to prepare a report on the principal localities where anti-malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
l measures would be necessary. It was around this time, in 1936, that he was introduced to the Durrell family, including Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
and Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
, who would remain life-long friends. Stephanides would later send Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
medicines for the British Embassy in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
(as noted from correspondence in Spirit of Place: Letters and Essays on Travel" (1969), by Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
). He would also be a meticulous proof-reader for Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
's My Family and Other Animals
My Family and Other Animals
My Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of the part of his childhood he spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939. It describes the life of the Durrell Family on the island in a humorous manner, and also richly discusses the fauna...
, and Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence Durrell
Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with Britain and preferred to be considered cosmopolitan...
's The Greek Islands.
Stephanides left Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
in 1938, moving to Salonica and undertaking work with an anti-malarial unit founded by the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
.
A veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Stephanides served as a Doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
in the period 1939 to 1945. His account of the Battle of Crete
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
- Climax in Crete - criticizes Allied war policy. His parents and numerous friends died in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
due to German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
strafing and bombing. Stephanides' wife Mary and daughter Alexia, who were living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, were sent to live with the Durrells in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
during the London Blitz of 1940 - 1941.
Stephanides re-joined his family in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, working as an Assistant Radiologist at St. Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
over the period of 1945 - 1961. He published the widely-circulated Climax in Crete in 1946. It was during this period that he published his two noted works in science: The Microscope and the Practical Principles of Observation (1947) - a guide to microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
operation and use - and the seminal A Survey of the Freshwater Biology of Corfu and of Certain Other Regions of Greece (1948).
Stephanides gained much praise and good standing as a poet after the back-to-back publication of his poetry collections The Golden Face (1965) and The Cities of the Mind (1969). He also went on to publish the personal collection of poems Worlds in a Crucible (1973). He also published a substantial body of translated poetry based on the works of the famous Greek poet Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School along with Georgios Drosinis, Nikos Kampas, Ioanis Polemis.-Biography:Born in Patras, he...
ending with the posthumous publication of Kostis Palamas: A Portrait and an Appreciation including Iambs and Anapaests and Ascraeus in 1985. His other widely-praised translation, that of the Greek poem Erotocritos, was also published posthumously, in 1984. Among his other books, Island Trails - a factual account of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
and the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
- is a well-recognized but rare book.
Theodore Stephanides died on 13 April 1983. Lawrence Durrell dedicated The Greek Islands (1978) and Gerald Durrell Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) and The Amateur Naturalist (1982) to Stephanides during his living years. Gerald Durrell's dedication in The Amateur Naturalist is to the mentorship he received from Stephanides, and reads:
- This book is for Theo my mentor and friend, without whose guidance I would have achieved nothing.
- Gerald Durrell, Dedication, The Amateur Naturalist