International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature

The Nineteenth Century

After the liberation of Greece, the rebuilding of the educational, political and economic
structures of the free Greek state began. Pioneers in the provision of educational texts
for children (written in purest Greek) included Alexandros Rizos Rangavis (1809–1892),
Elias Tantalidis (1818–1876) and Alexandros Katakouzinos (1824–1892). The first
magazine for children Children’s Storeroom was founded by D.Pantazis in 1836. With
translations of such books as Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin complementing the native
product, the foundations of Greek children’s literature were laid.
The work which marks the true starting point of children’s books in Greece is Old
Stathis or The Memories of my Childhood (1858) by Leon Melas (1812–1879). Old Stathis
together with Rangavis’s Greek Virtuous Learning also defined the educational and
aesthetic framework within which children’s books developed through the nineteenth
century. Ethical, religious, and national instruction was the basis of children’s literature
well into the twentieth century.
As interest grew in educational matters, children’s literature benefited. Among
children’s magazines, such as Children’s Journal and Children’s Paper of Markouizos,
there was one which can be regarded as a turning point, The Fashioning of Children
[Diaplasis ton Pedon] (1879) founded by N.Papadopoulos with Gregorios Xenopoulos
(1868–1952) as chief editor. This is one of the pillars of Greek children’s literature; it
had great influence over the next seventy years, and rallied around itself prestigious
authors who have supported with promoted children’s work.
Among the first poets for children were Georgios Vizyinos (1848–1896) (Children’s
Songs (1877–1884)), Demetrios Kambouroglou (Myths and Dialogues for the Use of Youth,
1881) and Alexandros Pallis (1851–1935), with his collection Ditties for Children (1889).
Equally, many accomplished poets published poems for children in the magazines of the
period, and anthologies of children’s poems, mainly for school use, began to circulate
around this time. In prose, there were many original short stories such as Tromaras by
Vizyinos, and Fire-Raiser by Kourtidis; Kourtidis also wrote books such as Children’s
Dialogues, Children’s Short Stories. Xenopoulos’s first children’s novel, My Little Sister,
was published in The Fashioning of Children, in 1891. Meanwhile, works taken from
international children’s literature were being translated and adapted, notably Verne,
Dickens, and Twain. In general terms, around the end of the nineteenth century Greek
children’s literature began to be conscious of its beneficial role and a literary tradition
was created.

The Twentieth Century

In the first twenty years of the twentieth century, national and international events (the
First World War, the Balkan Wars, the discord, the Asia Minor catastrophe and others)
as well as the struggles for the language deeply influenced Greek education. At that time
Penelope Delta (1874–1941) through her works For the Motherland (1909), A Tale Without
a Name (1910) and At the Time of Bulgaroktonos (1911) showed that children’s literature
could be a distinctive genre, and pioneered the historical novel. She was followed by
Julia Dragoumis (1885–1937) (Tales of a Greek, Under the Skies, Three Childrern) and
Arsinoe Papadopoulou (1853–1943), creating a tradition in the field of children’s books of

754 THE WORLD OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE