Grigorios Xenopoulos: Bringing the Zakynthian spirit to Athens
Nionios Nioniakis arrives in Athens carrying a guitar and a pot of jasmine. He has come from Zakynthos to work for an old friend, a lawyer whose household is already tangled in romantic troubles. Nionios is the central character of Grigorios Xenopoulos’s play To fioro tou Levante, first staged in 1914.
Grigorios Xenopoulos, 1888. Konstantin Skokos. Via Wikimedia Commons. Source record. Public domain.
An island childhood, a working life in Athens
Xenopoulos was born in Constantinople in 1867 and grew up in Zakynthos. He went to Athens in 1883 to study mathematics and natural sciences, then left his studies for writing. The Ionian University’s digital museum project follows his career in novels, theatre, journalism and children’s publishing.
For young readers of Diaplasis ton Paidon, he was Phaidon, the name with which he signed his letters. He edited the magazine for decades and later became a founding editor of Nea Estia.
Nionios among the Athenians
In To fioro tou Levante, the new arrival becomes involved in the love affairs of the lawyer’s daughters and interferes with an affair elsewhere in the household. The ERT Archive’s account of the play ends with Nionios returning to Zakynthos. He chooses the island despite the threat of earthquakes.
The production history also survives. Nikolaos Plessas’s company first performed the play at the Syntagma Theatre on 26 June 1914. ERT broadcast a television production on 24 March 1980, directed by Grigoris Grigoriou. The recording is available through the ERT Archive.
Further reading
- ERT Archive, Grigorios Xenopoulos and the television production of To fioro tou Levante, 14 January 2021.
- Ionian University Museum and Friends of the Xenopoulos Library, Grigorios Xenopoulos.
