Malakasis, Miltiadis

Malakasis was born in 1869 into a wealthy Mesolongion family. The ancestors of Malakasis are mentioned by the historiography of the War of Independence (1821-1829). His parents, Agamemnon Malakasis and Zoe Kerasoviti, had 4 children, but only one son. Because of this, the parents had weakness and indulged the only son ^[1] . Miltiadis graduated from elementary school in his hometown, continued his studies at the gymnasium of Patras . In 1885 he went to Athens and entered the private boarding school Papageorgiu. At the insistence of the family, after graduating from the lyceum, he entered the law faculty of the University of Athens , but he never graduated. The financial wealth of his family allowed Malakasis to devote himself to poetry and literature in general throughout his life. In the capital, he led a secular lifestyle and was a member of the Club of Athens. In 1897 he met with the poet naturalized in France, Jean Moreas (Ioannis Papadiamantopoulos). Moreas was a French poet, but he did not forget his Greek Fatherland, and with the start of the Greek-Turkish war of 1897 he arrived in Greece with the intention of joining the Greek army. However, the war was strange in nature and was soon phased out. Acquaintance with Moreas decisively influenced the poetry of Malakasis and his subsequent literary career. On the other hand, Moreas appreciated the talent of the young poet, translated two of his poems and published in France ^[2] . In 1908, Malakasis married the daughter of the late Prime Minister Epaminondas Deligeorgis , Elise, who was also the cousin of Moreasu. A consequence of the relationship with Moreas was the relocation of the four Malakasis in Paris the following year (1909), in which Malakasis remained to live until 1915. In the French capital, Malakasis, being accepted into the circle of Moreas, who was the most significant representative of the post-symbolic French romantic school, became acquainted with the French intellectual circles of that era. Malakasis returned to Greece in 1915, before making trips to Germany and Constantinople. In 1917 he was appointed curator, and later director of the library of the parliament. He was dismissed 18 years later, re-appointed to this post in 1936, but resigned the following year, 1937. In Greece, Malakasis relatively quickly received universal recognition and in 1924 was awarded the National Distinction of Literature. In 1932, he was elected President of the Society of Greek Writers. In 1939, as president of the Society of Greek Writers, he became a member of the first committee of State Literary Prizes.

On October 28, 1940, the invasion of the Italian army into Greece from the Allied Italians of Albania began. The Greek army repelled the invasion and, after 2 weeks of fighting, transferred the hostilities to Albanian territory. The victories of the Greek army caused a great resonance, since at that time the Axis forces dominated Europe, only Britain and Greece continued to fight, while from August 1939 the Non-aggression Treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union remained in force. The victories of the Greek army were the first victories of the anti-fascist coalition in World War II ^{[3] [4]} . Malakasis was among Greek artists who signed on to the appeal of Greek intellectuals to the world's intelligentsia. Greek intellectuals declared to their colleagues ^[5] : “We, the Hellenes, gave an answer to this ultimatum of fascist violence. An answer that befits 3000 years of our traditions, engraved deep in our souls, but also written in the last corner of the sacred land with the blood of the greatest heroes of human history. And today, on the snowy slopes of Pinda and the mountains of Macedonia, we are fighting, in most cases with a bayonet, determined to defeat or die to the death. Β this unequal struggle .... we have a feeling that we are defending not only our cause: that we are fighting for the salvation of all those High Values ​​that make up the spiritual and moral culture, the valuable heritage that our illustrious ancestors have bequeathed to humanity and which, today, we see, are threatened by a wave of barbarism and violence. It is this feeling that gives us, the Greek intellectuals, people of culture and art, the courage to turn to brothers all over the world to ask for not material, but moral help. We ask for the contribution of souls, the revolution of consciousness, conversion, immediate impact, wherever possible, vigilant tracking and action for (preparing) a new spiritual Marathon , which will save enslaved nations from the threat of the darkest slavery that humanity has known to this day. " Signatures: Kostis Palamas , Spyros Melas , Angelos Sikelianos , Georgios Drosinis , Sotiris Skipis , Dimitrios Mitropoulos , Konstantin Dimitriadis , Nikolaos Veis , Konstantin Partenis , Ioannis Griparis , Yannis Vlakhoyannis , Stratis Mirisis Kaspiris Malislavis Malislavis Malislavis Kris Kris , Aristos Campanis .

During the triple, German-Italian-Bulgarian occupation of Greece, Malakasis remained in Athens. In the terrible winter of 1941-1942, when more than two hundred thousand people died of hunger in the Greek capital, Malakasis, among other things, was ill with cancer. Malakasis lived in the last years of his life, having secluded himself in his house in the Athenian suburb of Psyhiko Ψυχικό and died of cancer on January 27, 1943.

Malakasis began his creative career with publications in the journal Week ( Eudomas ) in 1885 under the initials Μ.Μ. More systematically began to publish poems, prose and articles seven years later, in various magazines and newspapers The Hearth of Dionysos The Art of Panathinea Asti Acropolis (Εστία, Διόνυσος, Τέχνη, Παναθήναια, Άστυ, Ακρόπολις. Many of his poems were published in the journal Numas ( Νουμάς ). In total, he completed 10 poetry collections (of which the Castle Lady in theatrical form).

In 1904, he created, together with Konstantin Hadzopoulos (1868-1920) and Lambros Porfiras (1879-1832), the Greek Language Society (Εθνική Γλώσσα) for the promotion and adoption of spoken Greek in the literature.

Malakasis was free from the influence of schools and styles, although Moreas's influence on him was obvious. The main characteristic of his poetry, which is permeated with pessimistic moods, is the skill of the poet and the sense of music. His poetry becomes more courageous when it touches on the subject of Mesolongion . In his poems there is nostalgia for a lost world. Because of this, many of his heroes, such as Takis Plumas and Batarias, express the moral and life of the Greek people during the first period of the War of Independence. His narrative tone, which dominates these poems, resembles a demotic (folk) song. Some scholars believe that Malakasis is just a “singer,” whose verse flows effortlessly, without problems, without looking for lyrical depth. These researchers believe that Malakasis expresses personal feelings ignoring the sorrows of man and Greece ^[6] . In a certain way, Malakasis himself confirms these estimates with his statement: "I fight ideas."

• Fragments (poetic collection dedicated to Jean Moreas) (Συντρίμματα (1898) (ποιητική συλλογή αφιερωμένη στον Ζαν Μωρεάς)
• Watches (Ώρες 1903)
• Mistress of the castle (a fairy tale drama in verses)
• Fate (Πεπρωμένα 1909)
• Nightingales speak of this (το λένε τ΄αηδονάκια 1910)
• Asphodelus (Ασφόδελοι 1918)
• Batarias (Ο Μπαταριάς 1920)
• Takis Plumas (Ο Τάκης Πλούμας 1920)
• Byron (Μπάυρον 1920)
• Antiphons (Αντίφωνα 1931)
• Erotic (Ερωτικό 1939)
• Translation by Stan Mores Jean Moreas (μετάφραση του έργου Στροφές του Ζαν Μωρεάς (1920).

• Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Πάπυρος Λαρούς , τ. 34