Alexandros Rizos Rangavis | |
|---|---|
 Rangavis in 1869 | |
| Born | Alexandros Rizos Rangavis (1809-12-27)27 December 1809 |
| Died | 28 June 1892(1892-06-28) (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Writer, Statesman |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Period | 19th century |
| Signature | |
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Alexandros Rizos Rangavis orAlexander Rizos Rakgabis[1] (Greek:Ἀλέξανδρος Ῥίζος Ῥαγκαβής;French:Alexandre Rizos Rangabé; 27 December 1809 – 28 June 1892), was aGreekman of letters, poet andstatesman.
He was born inConstantinople to aGreekPhanariot family. He was educated atOdessa and the military school atMunich. Having served as an officer of artillery in theBavarian army, he returned to Greece, where he held several high educational and administrative appointments. He subsequently became ambassador to Washington, D.C. (1867), Paris (1868), and Berlin (1874–1886), and was one of the Greek plenipotentiaries at theCongress of Berlin in 1878.
He was the chief representative of a school of literary men, known as theFirst Athenian School, whose object was to restore as far as possible the ancient classical language. He was also a founding member of theArchaeological Society of Athens.[2]
Of his various works,Hellenic Antiquities (1842–1855, of great value for epigraphical purposes),Archaeologia (1865–1866), an illustratedArchaeological Lexicon (1888–1891), and the firstHistory of Modern Greek Literature (1877) are of the most interest to scholars. He wrote also the following dramatic pieces:The Wedding of Koutroulis (comedy),[3]Dukas (tragedy),TheThirty Tyrants,The Eve (of the Greek revolution); the romances, The Prince of Morea,Leila, andThe Notary of Argostoli; and translated portions ofDante,Schiller,Lessing,Goethe andShakespeare.
After his recall he lived inAthens, where he died on 28 June 1892. He had married Caroline, the daughter ofJames Skene of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen.
A complete edition of his philological works in nineteen volumes was published at Athens (1874–1890), and hisMemoirs appeared posthumously in 1894–1895.
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