Lorentzos Mavilis

Lorentzos Mavilis (Greek: Λορέντζος Μαβίλης; 6 September 1860 – 28 November 1912) was a Greek poet and chess problems composer. He is best known for his sonnets.

Biography

He was born in Ithaca and was of Spanish origin. His grandfather was consul of Spain in Corfu. He studied philology and philosophy in Germany and started to compose poems and chess problems (chess was his other passion).

He was a great supporter of the Megali Idea. In 1896, he joined the Cretan revolt against the Ottoman rule and in 1897, during the Greco-Turkish War, he participated in the fighting with a group of Corfiot volunteers.

In 1909, he supported the Goudi coup and in 1910 was elected as a member of the Greek Parliament for Corfu. As an MP, he took part in the dispute on the Greek language question, defending the use of the Demotic Greek against Katharevousa.

With the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in 1912, despite his advanced age (he was 52), he decided to join the army. He became chief of a group Garibaldini volunteers from Italy, but on 28 November 1912 was killed during a battle near Ioannina, where he is buried.

According to his companion his last words were:
“ I was expecting honours from this war, but not the honour to sacrifice myself for Greece! ”

Sources

Hibon, Roland, "Ἀνέκδοτα ἔργα τοῦ Μαβίλη ", Ἠπειρωτικὴ Ἑστία, 17, 200 (1968), σσ. 537–546
"Νεοελληνική Ποιητική Ανθολογία", ΒΙΠΕΡ No. 100, εκδόσεις "Πάπυρος ΠΡΕΣΣ", Αθήναι, 1971
"Ελληνική Ανθολογημένη Ποίηση", Γαβριήλ Πεντζίκης, εκδόσεις "Ινστιτούτο Διαδόσεως Ελληνικού Βιβλίου", Αθήνα, 1980
Νούτσος Παναγιώτης, "O Λ. Mαβίλης ως συνοδοιπόρος των 'Kοινωνιολόγων' ", O Πολίτης, αρ. 44 (5 December 1997), 37–41

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