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Famous People of Lesvos
We have introduced this section to our website to help you get to know some of the personalities who have helped to shape the Lesvos we know and love today. Press on the links below to see more detailed information about them , their lives and their contribution to the importance of the island, as well the history and achievements of Greece
Venjamin Karres l
Terpander l
Stratis Eleftheriadis l
Theophilos Chatzimichael l
Theophanes l
Pittakos l
Venjamin Karres
Venjamin Karres (of Lesvos) is one of the most important and attractive figures to whom the title "Teacher of the Nation " is given. He was a native of Megalochori of Lesvos (1762) and he studied at Kydonies, as well as in Europe.
His studies included Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, and Philosophy. He served as director of the Evaggeliki School of Smyrna, the second most important center of Hellenic stydies dyring the Ottoman Empire. Venjamin was inspired by the European enlightenment movement, and introduced modern Philosophy and Physical Sciences to Greece.
As a patriot, he was involved with the Friendly Society, a movement to enlighten the Ottoman-occupied Greeks and plant the seeds of liberation. When the struggle for independence began he took part in the assemblies of Epidavros and Astros.
Terpander (c. 712 - c. 645 BC)
According to Strabo, Terpander, a native poet and musician of Antissa in Lesbos. He is said to have invented a seven-stringed instrument resembling a lyre, called a 'kithara' by increasing the number of strings from four to seven.
Terpander won a prize for music with that instrument at the 26th Olympiad held in Sparta, and he established a school for musicians there. He is also created a system of musical notation. While there is evidence that such lyres existed before Terpander's time, there is a representation of such a lyre on a pot from Old Smyrna dated to the second half of the seventh century -- the time when Terpander won his reputation.
Terpander is said to have started the first music schools in Sparta. He is thought to have sung poems similar to the Homeric hymns. His name is associated with the form of a song sacred to Apollo known as the nome. He is also considered the founder of lyric poetry.
Stratis Eleftheriadis
Stratis Eleftheriadis - Teriade was born in Mytilini in 1897 and died in Paris in 1983. At the age of eighteen he left for Paris to study law. His real passion, however, was art theory and critic. At the time he was in Paris modern art was first taking form and gradually Teriade became part of the circle of the pioneering modern artists and their proponents.
He entered into a significant and enduring collaboration with established editors and publishers of modern art. He devoted himself to publishing periodicals, books, and articles concerning art. After many years of being well-known and highly respected he established his own publishing house, VERVE, in 1937.
One of Teriade's most significant contibutions was the recognition that he offered to the -until then- neglected work of Theophilos. It is solely due to Teriade's vision that today Theophilos' unique spirit is preserved. We know Theophilos through the works that the painted on canvas after the request of Teriade. Teriade him internationally by arranging a display in the Louvre, and thus attracting the attention of many people. Teriade financed entirely and donated to Mytilene in 1964 the Theophilos Museum, which houses the artist's latest works, like the one on this page.
At the time he thought of building a Museum-Library to display his work as an editor and publisher. This idea materialized in the museum of today which he also donated to his home town in 1979. The Museum of Modern Arts serves as an Open Book, in which visitors are introduced to proofs, original works and critiques of many pioneers of the modern art, including Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, and others.
Theophilos Chatzimichael
Theophilos Chatzimichael, one of the greatest known historical painters in Greece was from the island of Lesvos. He was born in the area of Varia near to the capital of Mytilini in 1873 and lived to see many changes until he died in 1934. Sometimes called The Greek Vincent Van Gough, he was a unique folk artist-painter.
Theophilos began painting on wood and created his own frescoes using his paints he mixed to his own recipes. He was known for his eccentric ways and his habit of wearing national dress, and is said to have lived a life of deprivation and poverty. His works are primitive in their conception of anatomy and perspective, yet owe much of their charm and harmony to this primitive grasp of artistic essentials and the feel of the colors. A man of spontaneity, he was most drawn to themes from nature and the historical past. He painted in houses, in churches, in coffee-shops wherever he could get a plate of food or an ouzo for his work. Like many great artists, Theophilos spent most of his artistic life suffering the mockery of his fellow countrymen.
Theophilos was finally recognised as a great artist by Stratis Eleftheriadis - Teriade They met in 1928. Teriade was so impressed by the artist that he requested a painting on canvas, in an attempt to save for posterity the freshness of the artist's work. According to Teriade, Theophilos never asked him for money. Thus it was that, in a new creative period at the end of his life, Theophilos produced some of his most representative and famous works.
Owing to Teriade, works of Theophilos were displayed in the Louvre, and are now on display in Teriade's museum in Mytilini. Sadly, Theophilos did not live to enjoy his fame and the respect he has now earned from his countrymen, artists and art critics throughout the world..
Theophanes
The Roman era historian Theophanes (100 B.C.) was born in Mytilene.
He accompanied Pompei in his military operations in Asia Minor and wrote an account of them. Pompei, in return of these services, accorded him the rights of a Roman Citizen. It is said by Strabo that such was Pompei's trust in Theophane's abilities that he never did anything without taking his advice.
Theophanes made use of Pompei's favor for the benefit of his native town, Mytilene, which Pompei, on his return from Asia in 62 B.C., declared to be free and adorned lavishly. The Mytileneans honored Theophanes by striking coins with the inscription "Theophanes god of Mytileneans"
Pittakos
Pittakos was one of the Seven Sages of antiquity, and was native of Mytilene (648 B.C).
He was devoted to public service, associated with the aristocratic party, and fought in many wars, eventually becoming a General. He was renowned for his adamant character and decency. His popularity was such that the Mytileneans vested him with dictatoral powers, a kind of elected tyrant. He introduced and applied many new laws and granted amnesty to his enemies, believing that forgiveness is better than punishment. He opted to rule for only ten years, relinquishing power with his own free will.
The Mytileneans, on his decision to leave public life, presented him with a piece of land, the ‘Pittakean plot’, from which he kept only an area as far as he could throw his spear, since he said ‘a fair amount is more than enough’.
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