Pavlos Nirvanas

Pavlos Nirvanas ( Greek Παύλος Νιρβάνας , * 1866 in Mariupol , Russian Empire ; † November 28, 1937 in Athens , Greece ) was a Greek writer whose real name was Petros K. Apostolidis .

Life

Nirvanas' father was from Skopelos , the mother from Chios . As a child, Pavlos Nirvanas returned to Greece from his then Russian hometown and from then on lived in Piraeus . He studied medicine at the University of Athens and finished his studies in 1890. He entered the service in the Navy and made it up to the senior physician (γενικός αρχίατρος). In 1922 he left the service. He also worked as a journalist and was a member of the Academy of Athens from 1928 . Although not born on Skopelos himself, he considered the Aegean island to be his home throughout his life.

plant

Pavlos Nirvanas dealt with almost all genres of literature: he wrote short stories , dramas , poems , essays , reviews, novels , satires and contemporary historical texts; he also appeared as a translator. He published the first volume of poetry in 1884. Of literary historical importance in Nirvanas' work, however, are less the poems than the abundance of the work itself and certain individual works, such as the Linguistic Autobiography (Γλωσσική Αυτοβιογραφία) from 1905, in which Nirvanas position on the Greek language dispute relates. In a first- person narration, he describes the career of a young man who succumbs more and more to the fascination of high-level language and who becomes an extremely atticizing scholar. Even if only a few understand his learned speech, he is admired for his ability to express himself. It was only when he met some beautiful girls from the people that he had doubts about his linguistic worldview, because instead of ῥῖνες ( rínes ), ὄμματα ( ómmata ), ὦτα ( óta ) and χεῖρες ( chíres ) - in German, for example: heads, faces, ories ... - he suddenly only sees her delicate μ zτες ( mýtes ), μάτια ( mátja ), αυτιά ( aftjá ) and χέρια ( chérja ) - completely "natural" noses, eyes, ears and hands - and then turns from madness the standard language.

Pavlos Nirvanas received an award in 1923 for his literary work.

Works (selection)

Δάφναι εις την 25ην Μαρτίου 1821 (poems, 1884)
Η φιλοσοφία του Νίτσε (article, 1898)
Γλωσσική Αυτοβιογραφία (satire, 1905)
Παγά Λαλέουσα (poems, 1907)
Ο αρχιτέκτων Μάρθας (play, 1907)
Το χελιδόνι (play, 1908)
Μαρία Πενταγιώτισσα (play, 1909)
Όταν σπάση τα δεσμά του (play, 1910)
Το συναξάρι του παπα-Παρθένη (short stories, 1915)
Αριστοτέλης Βαλαωρίτης (article, 1916)
Η ηθική επίδρασις της επαναστάσεως (essay, 1923)
Το αγριολούλουδο (novel, 1924)
Ξενιτιά (short stories, 1925)
Το έγκλημα του Ψυχικού (novel, 1928)
Εκλεκτές Ιστορίες (short stories, 1930)
Ένας ίσκιος στη νύχτα (short stories, 1934)

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ In German, the coexistence of high-level and vernacular expressions for everyday things such as body parts cannot be adequately reproduced in many cases. An example that at least approximates the diglossia situation discussed here in German would be the expression “head” for “head”, “face” for “face” or “face hole” for “nose”; Literally, however , the ancient Greek expressions mentioned mean noses, eyes, ears and hands .

personal data
SURNAME	Nirvanas, Pavlos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Νιρβάνας, Παύλος (Greek); Apostolidis, Petros K.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek writer
DATE OF BIRTH	1866
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mariupol , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH	November 28, 1937
Place of death	Athens

[1] In German, the coexistence of high-level and vernacular expressions for everyday things such as body parts cannot be adequately reproduced in many cases. An example that at least approximates the diglossia situation discussed here in German would be the expression “head” for “head”, “face” for “face” or “face hole” for “nose”; Literally, however , the ancient Greek expressions mentioned mean noses, eyes, ears and hands .