Vlasis Gavriilidis
Native name	Βλάσης Γαβριηλίδης
Born	1848 (1848) Selimpaşa,East Thrace,Ottoman Empire
Died	11 April 1920(1920-04-11) (aged 71–72) Athens, Greece
Occupation	Journalist
Literary movement	Demoticism
Years active	1867–1920
Notable works	Don't Get Lost Akropolis

Vlasis Gavriilidis (Greek:Βλάσης Γαβριηλίδης; 1848–1920) was a prominent Greekjournalist who in 1883 founded the progressive newspaperAkropolis inAthens. He played a significant role in the politics of the day, often supporting the demoticist movement in theGreek language question; at one stage, "It was said that a critical article by Gavriilidis could topple a Greek government."^[1]: 114

Gavriilidis andAkropolis also played a large part in the events leading up to theGospel Riots of 1901. The newspaper had published a translation of theGospel of St Matthew intomodern spoken Greek (by now very different from the ancientKoine Greek of the originalgospel, still used liturgically by theGreek Orthodox Church). This provoked a hostile reaction in some political and cultural quarters, which gradually became more violent until "Black Thursday", when eight demonstrators were killed.^[2]

Born in 1848 inSelimpaşa on the Thracian shore of the Sea ofMarmara, Gavriilidis was educated at the eliteGreat School of the Nation in Constantinople, later going on to studyliterature,philosophy and political science inLeipzig, sponsored by the wealthy diplomat and philanthropistSimon Sinas.^[3]

Returning to Constantinople, he began writing articles with a political theme, and founded the short-lived journalConcord (Ομόνοια), which soon merged withNeologos (Νεολόγος [el]) in 1867. Later he started another paper,Reform (Μεταρρύθμισις), which because of its political content began to attract the attention of the Turkish police. Eventually he had to move to Athens to avoid arrest.^{[a][1]: 113}

In Athens, Gavriilidis began by doing editorial work forThe Daily Debater. Soon, however, he joined Kleanthis Triantafyllos (who had also had to leave Constantinople for political reasons) in founding the radical demoticist journalRabagas (Ραμπαγάς); the first issue appeared in August 1878 and it ran until May 1889.^{[1]: 113, 359}

Rabagas mixed literature, politics and satire. Its leading contributors included many of theNew Athenian School, the 'Generation of 1880':Ioannis Polemis,Nikos Kampas [el],Georgios Souris [el];Georgios Drossinis, who published his first verses there under the pen-name "Αράχνη" (Spider) before bringing outSpider Webs in 1880; andKostis Palamas, who became a close personal friend of Gavriilidis (close enough for Gavriilidis to be best man at Palamas' 1887 wedding to Maria Valvis).^{[1]: 114, 359}

ButRabagas was not afraid of controversy. One issue was suspended because of public scandal over its publication of instalments fromZola'sNana (1879–80, translated byDimitrios Kambouroglous [el]).^[b] Its political ideas too were, as Triantafyllos later said, "so bold ... that [it] served as an entry ticket to the country’s prisons".^[1]: 359

Rabagas lasted until 1889, by which time Gavriilidis was mainly occupied withAkropolis. Triantafyllos was forced to close it after the May issue " ... because of Gavriilidis's withdrawal, lack of financial support by friends, and a prison sentence."^[1]: 360 A few days later, on 25 May 1889, Triantafyllos took his own life.

In 1880 Gavriilidis (though still involved withRabagas) began a project of his own, the magazineDon't Get Lost (Μη χάνεσαι). This covered the same ground asRabagas, with a mixture of political satire and literature from the New Athenians; it published the first poems of the youngGeorgios Stratigis [el]. The nameDon't Get Lost (orDon't Lose Your Way) came from a catchphrase used by the prominent contemporary politicianAlexandros Koumoundouros^[1]: 114

In 1883 Gavriilidis closedDon't Get Lost and effectively re-founded it asAkropolis, a daily broadsheet newspaper, which played a prominent role in Athenian journalism for the next four decades.^{[c][1]: 114}

"Gavriilidis was in his element and for 40 years poured out, in his laconic manner, articles on finance, feminism, farming, art, language, business, society, women's clothes, mixed education, the army, and politics. ... Gavriilidis's ideology was uncompromisingly pro-progress. He supported a new classless, demotic Greece. It was said that a critical article by Gavriilidis could topple a Greek government."^[1]: 114

At times of political turmoilAkropolis could also be a lone voice of moderation. After the disastrousGreco-Turkish War (1897), "politicians and army leaders alike were attacked by a most vociferous press which, possibly with the exception of Gavrilidis'Akropolis, paid scant regard to its responsibility as the Fourth Estate."^[2]: 118

In 1890 Gavriilidis became the first to produce a Greek newspaper using arotary printing press.^[1]: 114

• 1840s births
• 1920 deaths
• People from Silivri
• Greek male journalists
• Greek newspaper editors
• Greek newspaper publishers (people)
• 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire
• 19th-century Greek male writers
• 20th-century Greek male writers
• 19th-century Greek journalists
• 20th-century Greek journalists

• CS1 maint: location missing publisher
• CS1 Greek-language sources (el)
• Pages where birth or death is being automatically determined
• Articles containing Greek-language text