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Simos Menardos

Simos Menardos (Greek: Σίμος Μενάρδος) (Mytilene, 1871 – Athens, 23 July 1933) was a Greek and Cypriot academic, writer, philologist, folklorist, poet, lector in Mediaeval and Modern Greek at the University of Oxford, professor of Ancient Greek Philology and later rector of the University of Athens and member of the Academy of Athens and Parnassos Literary Society.

Early life and education

Menardos was the son of Greek diplomat Georgios Menardos (Γεώργιος Μενάρδος) from Tinos and the Greek Cypriot Augousta Frangoudes (Αυγούστα Φραγκούδη), of the well known Frangoudes family of Limassol. He was born in Myteline in 1871, where his father was appointed as vice consul of Greece, and spend his childhood in Cyprus. From his mother's side he was first cousin to the Cypriot journalist and politician Georgios Frangoudes.

He graduated from the Gymnasium of Athens and then studied philology and law at the University of Athens. In the law department he was in the same class as Christodoulos Sozos. Menardos then returned to Cyprus and worked as the principal of the Greek School at Larnaca (Ελληνική Σχολή Λάρνακος) between 1896-1898. Subsequently, from 1898 until 1904, he worked as a lawyer in Limassol. Later, between 1904 and 1907, he undertook post-graduate studies in Italy, France and the UK. From 1907 until 1909 he was appointed superintendent of the Greek schools of Cyprus (the first non-British person to be appointed to this position), and helped to found and organise the Cyprus Museum. He was a member of the Committee of the Cyprus Museum.

Academic work

Menardos specialised in Cypriot medieval and modern philology and dialectology focusing on the Cypriot dialect. He wrote studies on linguistics, toponymy, folklore, mostly about Cyprus, but also Lesbos, Rhodes, Cephalonia, Tinos and Mykonos. He was a translator and epigrammatist. He published a translation of Aristotles' Poetics along with commentary from Ioannis Sykoutris. He published a number of books as well as articles in journals such as Δελτίον Ἰστορικῆς καί Ἐθνολογικῆς Ἑταιρείας, Αθήνα, Νέος Ἑλληνομνήμων, Λαογραφία, Ἐπετηρίς Παρνασσοῦ.

Menardos was appointed to the first Lectureship in Mediaeval and Modern Greek at Oxford University, giving his inaugural lecture on 29 October 1908. He lectured until 1914 when the position was disestablished due to financial reasons. Oxford bestowed him an honorary doctorate. From 1911 until 1933 he was professor of Ancient Greek Philology at the University of Athens, in 1916 and in 1922 he was dean of the School of Philosophy, vice rector (1924–1925) and finally rector (1925–1926). In 1919 he inaugurated the Koraes Chair at King's College, with a series of lectures on modern greek poetry. He also gave lectures on modern Greek poetry at the University of Cambridge. In 1926 he was elected as a member of the Academy of Athens, and he acted as its first General Secretary from 1928 until his death in 1933. He was a member of the Parnassos Literary Society. In 1930 he was president of the Committee of the Troisième Congrès International des études byzantines à Athènes. In 1930 he published his only poetry collection titled Επιγράμματα (Epigrams).

Legacy

Kostis Palamas dedicated a poem to him titled To Simos Menardos (Στον Σίμο Μενάρδο). In honour of his contributions to the study of the Cypriot dialect, the Cyprus University of Technology has named its language center after Menardos.

Publications

Publications about Menardos

  • Συκουτρής, Ι. (1933). Σίμος Μενάρδος. Αθήναι: Τύποις Παρασκευάς Λεωνή.
  • Tillyrides, A. (1979). Unpublished letters of Simos Menardos, Κυπριακαί Σπουδαί, 43.
  • Κασίνης, Κ. Γ. (1982). Ο Σίμος Μέναρδος και η Υποψηφιότητα του Παλαμά για το Βραβείο Νόμπελ. Αθήνα.
  • Χρυσάνθης. Κ. (1989). Μια επιστολή του Σίμου Γ. Μενάρδου. Εταιρία Κυπριακών Σπουδών. Λευκωσία.

References

External links