The Greek captain of the early U.S navy.

 George Colcovoresses

George Colvocoreses (Γεώργιος Κολβοκορέσης) was a Greek-American officer of the US navy.He was born on 22 October 1816 in Chios, descended from a noble family.During the Chios massacre by the Ottomans he was caught by the Turks along with his 2 sisters and his mother.His remaining 6 simblings were all killed.His family's property was destroyed and confiscated.

His father,with the assistance of American missionaries,achieved to release him when he was 8 years old and sent him to Baltimore in U.S.A.There he was adopted by the lieutenant Alden Partridge who was the founder of the American scientific and military academy(nowadays university of Norwich) which was the first private military educational institute in U.S.A. In 1831 he graduated and was accepted in the ranks of the American navy.In 1832 he was appointed as a recruit and in 1836 he served in the frigate "United States" which was part of the U.S naval unit of the Meditteranean which would later become the 6th fleet.From 1838 until 1842 he served in the research team of the U.S.A in the Pacific Ocean.His impressions were illustrated in a book that he wrote bearing the title:Four years in a Government Exploring Expedition.

The outbeak of the American civil war found him fighting for the North.On January 29,1862. He was captain of the frigate USS Supply and achieved to capture a transport ship of the South which was carrying war supplies.In 1864 as captain of the warship Saratoga he was distinguished  in many naval missions.In 1867 he retired with the rank of the captain.
George Kolkovoresis was assassinated on June 3,1872  at Bridgeport of Connecticut while waiting for the ship for New York.Initially his death was attributed to suicide. The case is still unsolved today.He got married twice and had 4 children.
Three of his descendants followed a military career. His son George Colcovoresses reached the rank of admiral and his great grandson Alden  Colcovoresses became a colonel.
In his honor a sea strait in the Piugit canal of Washington state was named Kolvos passage and a gulf in Antarctica was named Colcovoresses bay

 George Colcovoresses' grave

Προς τιμή του, ένα θαλάσσιο στενό στον Πορθμό Πιούτζιτ της πολιτείας της Ουάσινγκτον ονομάστηκε «Πέρασμα Κόλβος» (Colvos Passage), καθώς κι ένας κόλπος στην Ανταρκτική (Colvocoresses Bay).

The eighth archbishop of Canterbury

Theodore was born in 602 AD in Tarsus of Cilicia, a region of Byzantine Asia to a Byzantine Greek family.There are also other theories that suggest he was of Syrian descent or possibly from a Hellenized Syrian family.The wars between the Byzantines with the Sassanids and later with the Arabs made him flee from his homeland which was turned into a battlefield numerous times.


Theodore received high quality education in Athens. It is there that he was initiated in monachism.Again there are controversies about this part of his life as it is also suggested that he received education in Constantinople.To sum up he became familiar with Astronomy, Astrology, Roman law ,rhetoric and of course with religious studies.


In 662 he went to Rome.He became a monk in a monastery called "Ad aquas salvias". There he mastered Latin language and literature.In 668 pope Vitalian chose Theodore to fill the vacant position of the bishop of Canterbury.He was consecrated Archbishop on 26 March 668.

He became known with two names. First was St. Theodore of Canterbury.

 He arrived in England one year later escorted by Hadrian of Canterbury.During his trip he met with the former bishop of Wessex who was by then the bishop of Paris the situation of the church in England.His first actions as an Archbishop he appointed bishops and priests to fill many vacant positions caused by a plague that hit England which also caused the return to paganism of a large proportion of the population.He reorganised the territories of each diocese for better administration and he called the synod of Hertford in 664 by which some religious issues were confirmed like the proper celebration of Easter according to the Roman way and not with Celtic influences and the definition of the duties and authority of the clergy.


In 679 Theodore mediated to stop a war between Northumbria and the Mercians thus preventing further bloodshed.The same year he called the synod of Hatfield to confirm the decisions of the synod of Lateran(649) in which monothelitism was condemned.

He was also known as St. Theodore of Tarsus to indicate his birthplace

Among his reforms of the British church was a proposal of the division of the the large diocese of Northumbria.This brought him into conflict with Wilfrid the bishop of Northumbria. Wilfrid was deposed and  his diocese was divided. This conflict was not settled until some years before Theodore's death.


Undoubtedly one of Theodore's most important deeds as an archbishop was the opening of the school of Canterbury under the management of Hadrian.Theodore introduced a mix of GrecoRoman and ecclesiastical lessons for the education of the students.He also encouraged the monasteries and the dioceses outside of Kent.

St Theodore's grave in Saint Peter's cathedral of Canterbury

Theodore died in 690 at 88 years old, very very old if we consider the average life expectancy in the 7th century.

Julia Mingenes

Julia Mingenes

Julia Migenes was born as Julia Mouzianakis  on the Lower East Side of New York into a family made up of a passionate mixture of Greek and Irish-Puerto-Rican descent. Despite a difficult and violent childhood, she discovered her calling upon engagement of the child role in Madame Butterfly where she first experienced the power and the emotion of music linked to a stage setting.

  A few years later, while studying at the New York School for Performing Arts, she was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to be a soloist in his "Young People's Concerts". She began her Broadway career as a teenager, replacing Anna Maria Alberghetti in Carnival!, soon thereafter played Maria in a City Center revival of West Side Story, and followed that with a portrayal of Hodel in the original cast of Fiddler on the Roof (1964) – the longest-running musical on Broadway at the time – with Zero Mostel.

Migenes then went to Vienna, sang in German in the chorus at the Theater an der Wien, and took the role of Maria in the German version of West Side Story at the Volksoper in 1968. Since then, she has spent much of her time in Europe. She moved to Munich in the 1970s and became a star of operetta, film, and television, winning many awards. She married Jervis Johnson and had a child, and for many years was billed as Julia Migenes-Johnson.

Word of this new star crossed the Atlantic where Maurice Béjart was desperately searching for his Salomé to be staged in Geneva. Julia Migenes embodied the ideal combination for this role: a world-class opera singer and a graceful dancer.

While on stage in Geneva as Salomé, the Italian film director Francesco Rosi was casting for his up and coming film: Carmen. The lead role required not only an opera singer and dancer but also an actress sensual enough to personify the burning passion of Bizet's character. The result was Julia Migenes immortalized in a motion picture that has since become a reference in the filmed opera genre. The soundtrack not only brought her a Grammy Award but even more worldwide notoriety that allowed her to access the greatest theaters in the world.

To this day, Julia Migenes has recorded more than 20 albums of various music genres.

Julia Mingenes performing Carmen in the homonymous movie.

Marie Spartali (Stillman)

Marie Spartali(later Stillman)

Marie Spartali was born in Middlesex in 1843. Her father was a rich Greek merchant called Mickael Spartalis.
Mickael Spartalis was a member of the Greek community in Britain and occasionally he was working as a Greek consul in Britain. Her mother was Euphrosyne Varsami a daughter of an Greek merchant from Genoa.
 Her childhood life helped Marie Spartali a lot for becoming a painter. The house she was living had a view over Chelsea and Thames and the setting was idyllic. Her father hosted numerous garden parties where he invited various artists and writers of London.
When she grew up she was notably beautiful and along with two other friends of greek heritage thei were labeled as the three graces(greek mythology). In one of the high society parties she met two great British figures Whistler and Swinburne.Since 1864 she became a student of Ford Madox Brown. Because of her beauty she modelled for many pre-Raphaelite painters like Whistler, Rosetti ,Spencer Stanhope and  Ford Brown.She became herself a prominent pre-Raphaelite painter and until her death she produced 170 paintings.

St.George by M.Stillman

In 1871 she married an American journalist called William J. Stillman . It was William's second marriage cause his first wife had commited suicide two years before. That's why her parents were strongly opposed to this marriage. Because of William's profession Marie had to travel to many places like Florence , Rome and the United States. She had three children and nowadays there are many of her descendants living. She died in 1927 and ironically she wrote as a last will:  "It seems rather absurd to make a will when one has neither possessions nor money to leave". Today her work is valued at 500 million dollars.


As a painter she belonged to the pre-Raphaelite movement. Her models were mainly female and her themes were English and Italian plays. She also painted Italian landscapes.During her life not much of her work was sold that's why she probably she underestimated it.


The London times in 8th March 1927 wrote:

"Mrs. Stillman (Obituary)."At her death in her eighty-fourth year, Marie Spartali Stillman was the last of the small circle of women who contributed significantly to the               Pre-Raphaelite movement. The daughter of wealthy and educated Anglo-Greek parents, she married W. J. Stillman, a widower with three children. They had three more children together, and while her parental, wifely, and domestic duties did not allow her to pursue her own art with the concentration it deserved, she was an important friend and colleague in the studios and households of Burne-Jones, Morris, Rossetti and others. Her legendary beauty is imperfectly preserved in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's paintings; photographs do not do her justice, either. Her intelligence, charm, sense of humour, and spirit were valued by the many people whose lives she touched.

Greek Revolution part 2- Vassos Mavrovouniotis Vaso Brajović

Early life

 Vaso Brajovic or later Vasos Mavrovouniotis was an important figure of the Greek revolution. Historians do not question his Philellenism while others believe that he was alledgedly  an adventurer who seeked to make money.

He was born towards the end of the 18th century in Bjelopavlici a village located in what is today  Montenegro or  Crna Gora (Црна Гора).  It's worth to mention that Montenegro was never occupied by the Ottomans as a whole. Even when the Ottoman empire reached its peak by even besieging Vienna itself the Montenegrims had some sort of autonomy.This makes obvious that the region along with its geographical advantages produced some very brave men.One of them was also Vasos Mavrovouniotis.

 When he became 20 years old for uknown reasons he left his home and went to Asia minor(present day Turkey). There he met his later best friend and spiritual brother Kriezotis who was an Arvanite of Greek conciousness.There are no sources about their activities in Minor Asia. Likely they either became mercenaries or bandits.

In 1820 Mavrovouniotis goes to Athens. There he is appointed as a flag carrier for the Ottoman force that was going to crush the rebellion of Ali Pasha in Epirus. He was deeply  insulted by this appointment because he thought he was better than just a flag carrier and he deserted.

Greek revolution

 In 1821 when the revolution started he was in Carystus in the island of Euvoia.He soon became the leader of the revolution in the region. In his first three battles in Euvoia he was not very succesful. We can say that the situation remained stalemate.This is because the Turks of the island were surprisingly fighting as bravely as the revolutionaries.In his fourth battle against the Ottoman forces of the island the co-captain of the revolution  in the island Ilias Mavromichalis died. Thus leaving only Mavrovouniotis as leader of the greek rebels in the island. It was a battle were the two leaders combined their forces to liberate an important town but their plans didn't go as they expected and they suffered a dissastrous defeat.

Mavrovouniotis monument in Podgorica

After this dissaster Mavrovouniotis withdrew to the mountains and fought a guerilla war.In 1822 he gave some undecisive battles having many casualties because of his choice to fight in plains. He left for Athens after a letter sent by the Athenean jury of Areios Pagos. He was invited to earn a a sum of money as a reward for his loyalty to the the revolution and his contribution(it's worth noted that, when the revolution started and he took arms he was never promised money or a reward).

Now acting under the orders of the headquarters of the revolution  Mavrovouniotis was sent  to the island of Thassos  where along with 300 soldiers he fought many victorious battles and essentially liberated the island.

However there are also atrocities reported by his army. Historians say that he left no muslim alive in the island either soldier or civilian.

After his success in Thassos with high morale he returned to Euvoia to face once again the local ottoman governor he wasn't able to beat. This time he won the battle against his enemy. However things were not going well on other fronts of the revolution thus in 1823 he had to withdraw from the island and go back to Athens were he was appointed general of the armies of Attica (Athens).

The next year a civil war broke out between the military leaders of the revolution and the political leaders.

Mavrovouniotis chose the side of the Politicians. He fought many victorious battles in Peloponnesos against his opponents. Later he fought bravely against the invasion force of the professional armies of Egypt lead by Imbrahim Pasha.In one of  his battles against the Egyptian force he lost his brother Spiros Mavrovouniotis.

He was recalled from Peloponnese back to Athens . In the same time his another brother Rantos Mavrovouniotis died heroically in the island of Psara(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Psara) 

Rantos was equally brave with Vasos and when the whole island had fallen to the ottomans he died along with 800 Greeks and 3000 Turks after a huge explosion.Despite the fact he was a non greek , he fought for the Greek cause without ever asking for a reward.

Vasos continued fighting this time in continental Greece and near Amfissa he utterly destroyed an enemy force which consisted mainly of muslim Albanians hired by the Ottomans.As Kriezotis with some exaggeration describes in his memorium  Mavrovouniotis  was not killing he was plowing his enemies.This was the most famous battle of Mavrovouniotis.

However because of the pressure in both fronts by Egyptians(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Egyptian_Invasion_of_Mani)
and Ottomans his victories brought no substantial gain and he returned back to Athens. At this time something happened that not many historians mention. A greek priest came from Lebanon and with tears in his eyes asked for help form Kolletis who was serving as leader of Greece to send an army to help the Greeks in Lebanon revolt. Kolletis thought this was an excellent idea cause he was going to cause a diversion on Ottoman forces by striking at a place of the Ottoman empire than noone could imagine that Greeks could revolt.However Kolletis had no money to pay even for the currents army and he told the priest to find Mavrovouniotis and persuade him.

Mavrovouniotis and Kriezotis were persuaded to do this after the dismantling of their forces by the greek government.(It was the time that experienced military leaders like the French Favier along with 2000 French regulars had come to join the Greeks.) 

With 2500 soldiers they went to Cyprus were they pillaged the island after some victorious battles against the turkish authority.Thus he was able to pay his soldiers and get supplies for their final destination which was Lebanon. In Lebanon the main target of Mavrovouniotis was Beirut.

His battles were stalemate and the army was running out of supplies. However Mavrovouniotis ordered the soldiers not to pillage the properties of the people who were mainly christian at the time. Later reinfrcements arrived from the Greek island of Kos but an army of 25.000  cavalry arrived in Beirut and their leader Emir Beazir of Lebanon sent a letter to Mavrovouniotis asking him who they are and what they want? Mavrovouniotis answered :"We are Greeks and we came to storm this fort". The emir then asked them to leave or else he would attack them. The Greeks found it impossible to fight such an army and after an extesive pillaging  they left Lebanon.

It is still debatable by historians whether it was the revolutionary intention of Mavrovouniotis that lead him to go to Lebanon or the pillaging tactics.While the Greek revolution was failing he found himself trying to liberate once again the island where he started the revolution along with his friend Kriezotis  with collaboration of the English admiral Hamilton.

 The Egyptian forces had supressed the revolution and reconquered almost all of Peloponnese. Mavrovouniotis was fighting in 1826 against a second invading army of the Ottomans lead by Kyutachi near the last remaining fort of continental Greece, Athens. Along with one of the great leaders of the revolution general Karaiskaskis and the insight of a Hamilton who ordered the creation of a defence in Elefsina the ottoman army was stopped in Athens relieving the Peloponnese based Greek government.

The places where Mavrovouniotis fought.

 After the intervention by the European powers and  the creation of a Greek state Mavrovouniotis remained in Greece and Athens in the service of the King Otto.He married a greek woman  of wealthy family and he died in 1847.

Source:"Χρυσολόγης Αθανάσιος" Ο Ελληνικός Αγών : Βάσσος Μαυροβουνιώτης : Διατριβή αναγνωσθείσα εν τω Φιλολογικώ Συλλόγω "Βύρωνι" την 8ην Ιανουαρίου 1876 / υπό Αθ. Ν. Χρυσολόγη, 1876 Athens. 

Traslation is made by me.

Likario:The Legendary Italian from Vicenza.

Kastelli :Likario's base of operations in Euboea(Negreponte). 

Likario was born in  Karystus  in the Greek island of Euvoia at the begining of the 13th century. His father was a mercenary of noble ancestry from Vicenza and his mother was Greek, perhaps she was too from from Karystus.As a character he was from a young age a restless person. When he became adult(15-18 years old) his father tired from his bad attitude gave him some money and sent him away forever.


He didn't go far away, at least at the begining. He visited Negreponte(present day Chalkida) which was the capital of the the duchy of the island which had the same name.There somehow he achieved to be hired at the personal guard of the count of Negreponte Giberto de Verona(Guiberto Dalle Carceri).Apparently because of his father's noble ancestry he may have learned at a young age how to use a sword.
At this stage of his life there were series of events that would affect his later deeds critically. The island of Negreponte was divided in three counties. In one of those the seat of the count was vacant as he probably died without heirs and whoever married his widow would take also the 35% of the island.Her name was Felicia and  somehow she met Likario and fell in love with him.
This relationship was unacceptable for the morals of the time. It was impossible for an inferior to marry someone of noble birth. The family of Felicia was criticizing her and condemned this relationship. Their intentions although may not have been purely moralistic.Felicia was under the protection of Lord Giberto's family(she was Guiberto's sister). This meant that if they could keep her unmarried they would be able to control her and thus control 60% of the island. Likario may also have maintained this relationship because of his ambition to become someday a great man(maybe he had a father rejection complex)

Likario and Felicia married in secret and when Felicia's family learned it they got really angry.However they didn't turn to become spectators of this situation. Apparently the noble family had strong bonds with the church and the Vatican and they succeded to cancel this wedding.

Likario got furious with his former master and left Negreponte heading to the south of the island somewhere near his homeland. There he established a lair and became a pirate. He was very succesful in his new "career" He pillaged the surrounding villages and he also sailed to assault merchant ships passing nearby. Because of his success he became famous for his smart pirate tactics and for the fear he caused in the region.

Some years passed but his hatred for the count had never ceased. As a pirate he wasn't able to harm him so he got into contact with the Byzantine emperor who was the main enemy of the Latin duchies of Greece.
The emperor knowing already his qualities offered him a position in the Byzantine army and later in the Byzantine navy.Meanwhile his wife Felicia had long before died in the island under no clear circumastances.

Map of the island of Negreponte(modern Euboea)

She was 42 years old when she died while Likario was much more younger. You can make your own speculations on how she may have died or how she was killed.

Continuing with the history Likario gained the trust of the emperor and he was given imperial forces at his disposal for the task of conquering the whole island of Euvoia for the Byzantine empire. If he succeeded it as a reward the emperor would appoint him Lord of  the whole island. The Byzantines had already won in several battles against the Latins in their effort to reconquer Greece and had conquered an important fort in Euvoia.

Likario reinforced with Byzantine units invaded Euvoia in 1273 A.D and conquered all its fortresses in a short time. The only fortress that was still Latin was the capital of the island Negreponte .The count of Negreponte had already sent calls for aid from the Latin Duchy of Athens and the principality of Achaia. It was the year 1275 and Likario had left the island for a while to fight in Minor Asia the enemies of Byzantium.The prince of Achaia achieved to reclaim some important forts relieving the city of Negreponte but his victories made him so overconfident that he immediately attacked to reclaim the whole island with only 700 experienced knights.In one of    his battles he lost a significant portion of his army and eventually withdrew back to Achaia.
In 1276 after his victory in the battle of Demetrias against the Latins Likario renewed his contract with the emperor about the island and he was again offered the seat of the governor of Negreponte and instead he would send 200 knights of the island in the service of the emperor. In the same year he was appointed as Megas doux(leader of the navy) of the empire and he became the first foreigner to take such a high title in the Byzantine empire.
Likario invaded again Euvoia with the whole Byzantine navy at his disposal and easily recaptured all the forts that were lost during the Prince's of Achaia campaigns.He didn't dare to besiege the capital and instead he turned to capture other Aegean islands for the Byzantine empire.
In 1280 reinforced with Catalan and Sicilian mercenaries he returned  to capture his "big desire" the capital Negreponte. The brother of Felicia along with the Duke of Athens went out of the castle to deal with him. Likario achieved an important victory against their army in a village near Negreponte.In the battle it was reported that Guiberto was killed and the duke of Athens was sent as a captive in Constantinople were he was perhaps executed in public display.
The reaction of the Latins was admirably quick despite the noble casualties. The lord of Argos Iakobo de la Roche organised well the defences of Negreponte and the Venetian fleet reclaimed many of the islands that were captured by Likario. By failing to take Negreponte Likario and the Byzantine army withdrew from the island which was reclaimed by the Lombards in 1289. The traces of Likario are lost in history since 1290.
He probably died some years later in Constantinople.

Christos o Arapis (Chris the Coloured man)

Christos' portrait by the famous Greek painter Nikolaos Gyzis

Christos Arapis was a "distinguished" personality in the society of Athens in 19th century.
 He was a beloved person and often the press was hosting articles about him. He was  multilingual  and had a good knowledge of politics and diplomacy which was in fact weird cause he was brought as a slave in Greece from Ethiopia  to serve as a soldier of the Ottoman empire.After the Greek revolution in 1821 and the formation of the Greek state in 1830 he defected towards the Greek side and lived until his death in Athens.
According to the Athenean press of the period he was fully aware of the celebrations and the events in his city and his flowers along with his wishes were arriving first than any other presents. Many modern Greek painters have painted his portrait and a poem was also dedicated to him when he died.
He died in Athens dissapointed about how the things were going about the recently formed Greek state. There's a memorable quote he uttered before his death.«την ελευθερία σας καταντήσατε κλεφτερία» which means You have turned your freedom into stealing  Adressing towards the corrupted financial ministers of the government.

The Greek-American battalion of WW2.

The 122nd marching with an American and a Greek flag

122nd INFANTRY BATTALION

This photo, taken in Camp Carson, Colorado in early 1943, pictures the first and only time a foreign flag was allowed to fly next to the American flag leading a United States Armed Forces group on American soil.!!! Passing in review for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall, the soldiers were Greek-American and Greek Immigrants, many of whom were not yet American citizens.

The Battalion Commander was Major Peter D.  Clainos, the first Greek born American to graduate from the West Point Academy and a co-founder of the Sons of Pericles.  A demanding task master, Major Clainos vowed that he would not allow his men to embarrass themselves or the Greek People and made certain they were well trained and in outstanding physical condition.

When the "Greek Battalion" was disbanded, most of its members were transferred to infantry units that fought in both the European and Pacific Theaters.  One hundred-sixty members of the Battalion volunteered for a small elite commando group that fought with the Greek Resistance in Greece as members of the Greek/US Operational Group, Office of Strategic Services.

Kallergi's Pan-Europa (E.U)

Richard Nikolaus von Coudenhove-Kalergi descended from the Coudenhove-Kalergi family from his father side. His mother was Japanese. The Coudenhove-Kalergi family was formed with the marriage of  Franz Karl Coudenhove (1825-1893) and Maria Kalergi(1840-1877) .The Kalergis were a Byzantine noble family who ruled  the island of Crete After the Ottoman conquest of Crete in 1669 they fled towards the Ionian islands and the rest of Europe.

The national poet of Japan

Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo,小泉 八雲) was born in Lefkas, Greece. He was a son of an army doctor Charles Hearn from Ireland and a Greek woman Rosa Cassimati.Charles Hearn and Rosa Cassimati met in the Greek island of Cythera.Charles Hearn was possibly serving at the British navy.

Leucadio Hearn 

Lafcadio Hearn was born in the island of Lefkas where the couple lived and from the name of the island he got his name and was baptised according to the christian Orthodox customs in the Saint Paraskevi church.He was also given the name Patrick which is the name of the patron saint of Ireland but he never used it.

Suddenly his childhood would change so much that we can say it defined the course of the rest of his life.When Leucadio was 4 years old  Charles and Rosa moved out from the mediterranean Leucada and went in the Northern and dull Ireland.
The change of setting was not the only thing that affected his psychology.The aristocratic family of Charles Hearn never accepted Rosa and made the couple's life difficult to make to clear that they were not welcome.Some years after Charles Hearn asked for a divorce and ousted Rosa back to Greece in order to marry an Irish woman. Lafcadio would never see his mother again.
Rosa died  59 years old in a psychiatric clinic in Corfu.

The custody of Lefcadio was taken by one of his Irish aunts.
At this period Lefcadio was maltreated by his aunt. He reported that he was locked in a dark room that looked like a prison.However his aunt took care for his education and sent him to an Irish college.

Some years after, his aunt lost much of her fortune and Lefcadio was sent out of her home. He decided to take a ship for New York.In New York he was living like a trump doing some jobs just to make ends meet.
Later he went to Ohaio were he started his carreer in mass media. In Ohaio he worked in  printing press correcting mistakes in essays and journals. However an eye problem(he could see only from one eye) made his job very difficult and thus he left Ohaio for N.Orleans where he became a famous journalist. He was hired for a local newspaper to cover the crime news in N.Orleans. He became known for his writtings about the dark side of N.Orleans and about its mixed ancesty residents.He left New Orleans too after some years because of a failed marriage with a woman from N.Orleans.

In 1890 he travelled to Japan as a correspodent of an American magazine.He worked in Matsué as an English teacher of Shimané Prefectural Middle School. In Matsué, he got acquainted with his lifelong friend Nishida Sentarô, a colleague teacher, and married Koizumi Setsu, a daughter of a samurai.

In 1891, he moved to Kumamoto and had taught at the Fifth High School for 3 years. Kanô Jigorô, the president of the School of that time, is known as the man who spread judo to the world.

In 1896, when he lived in Kôbé after he worked as a journalist there, he got Japanese citizenship and a new name, Koizumi Yakumo. This name was taken from "Kojiki", a Japanese ancient myth.

On that year, he moved to Tôkyô and began to teach at the Imperial University of Tôkyô. There he got respect of students and many of them made a remarkable literary career.

In addition, he wrote much reports of Japan and published in America. His works was read by so many people as an introduction of Japan.

He quit the Imperial University in 1903 and began to teach at Waseda University on the year next. But after only a half year he died of angina pectoris.

Due to his problematic left eye most of his photos are taken from this angle

He got his inspiration as a poet right from his first step in Japan. He considered the Japanese culture more humanistic and pure than the western culture.He didn't trace the roots of the japanese culture in the high nobility but in the people who according to Hearn carried this national legacy that they took from their ancestors.In his writtings he mentions Ancient Greece and compares it to Japan . Surely the lack of his father's interest on him had a big impact  as also the loss of his mother  whom he considered more alike to him is a major theme in his works.He got initiated and admired the Japanese religion which he believed was crucial in the creation of the psychosynthesis of the Japanese people.

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                                                                    Main Works

Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan

Out of the East

Kokoro

In Ghostly Japan

Shadowings

A Japanese Miscellany

Kwaidan

Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation

Brumidi's fresco. The apotheosis of Washington.

Constantino Brumidi

Costantino Brumidi (July 26, 1805 – February 19, 1880), was an Italian/Greek-American historical painter, best known and honored for his fresco work in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

Brumidi was born in Rome, the son of Stavro Broumidi, a native of Filiatra (in western Messinia, a district in the Peloponnesos, a region in southern Greece). His mother was from Rome. He showed his talent for fresco painting at an early age and painted in several Roman palaces, among them being that of Prince Torlonia. Under Gregory XVI he worked for three years in the Vatican.

The occupation of Rome by French forces in 1849 apparently persuaded Brumidi to emigrate, having joined the short-lived risorgimental Roman Republic, and he sailed for the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1852. Taking up his residence in New York City, the artist painted a number of portraits. Subsequently he undertook more important works, the principal being a fresco of the Crucifixion in St. Stephen's Church, for which he also executed a Martyrdom of St. Stephen and an Assumption of Mary.

In 1854 Brumidi went to Mexico, where he painted an allegorical representation of the Holy Trinity in the Mexico City cathedral. On his way back to New York he stopped at Washington D.C. and visited the Capitol. Impressed with the opportunity for decoration presented by its vast interior wall spaces, he offered his services for that purpose to Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs. This offer was accepted, and about the same time he was commissioned as a captain of cavalry.


His first art work in the Capitol Building was in the meeting room of the House Committee on Agriculture. At first he received eight dollars a day, which Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War of the United States, caused to be increased to ten dollars. His work attracting much favourable attention, he was given further commissions, and gradually settled into the position of a Government painter. His chief work in Washington was done in the rotunda of the Capitol and included the Apotheosis of George Washington in the dome, as well as other allegories, and scenes from American history. His work in the rotunda was left unfinished at his death, but he had decorated many other sections of the building, most notably hallways in the Senate side of the Capitol now known as the Brumidi Corridors.

In the Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he pictured St. Peter and St. Paul. Brumidi was a capable, if conventional painter, and his black and white modeling in the work at Washington, in imitation of bas-relief, is strikingly effective.

He died in Washington, DC.