PoetsThe Greek national poet Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857)Wrote the poem of 158 stanzas, “Imnos is tin Eleftherian” (Hymn to Liberty) in 1823. In 1865, the first 2 stanzas became the National Anthem of Greece. He was born in Zakynthos and moved to Italy where he lived for 10 years. He studied Law at Pavia University. Then returned to Zakynthos in 1818 and later moved to Corfu in 1828. He was interested in the Greek language and was influenced by the heroic efforts of the revolution for the independence of the Greek people against Turkish tyranny. He lived in Corfu from 1827 till the end of his life. His house became a museum.
His most famous poems are: the “Ode on the Death of Lord Byron”, the “Katastrophi ton Psaron” (the Destruction of Psara) - 1826, the “Farmakomeni” (Poisoned) - 1826, “Lambros” (1823), “Eleftheroi Poliorkimenoi” (Free Besieged) – 1826 and many more. The politician Jacob Polylas (1826-1896) Was also poet, scholar and literary. He went to Naples and studied the German idealist philosophy and especially Hegel and Schiller. He learned Italian, French, English, German and the ancient Greek language. He translated Shakespeare’s works, the Tempest and Hamlet, the Odyssey of Homer and the bright philological legacy “Ta Evriskomena” (1859), which is the most important work for the poetry and the personality of Somomos. He collected the work of Solomos in a volume and wrote “Ta prolegomena”, a critical introduction. He was a liberal bourgeois. During 1869-1879 he was elected five times as Deputy of the Parliament. The poet Gerasimos Markoras (1826-1911) Born in Kefalonia but he had Corfiot descedence. He educated in an Italian Law School. On his return to Corfu in 1856, where he continued his studies in the Ionian Academy and was associated with Solomos, Kalosgouros and Polylas. In 1875, he wrote the poem “Orkos” (Oath), inspired by the holocaust of Arkadia. He also wrote remarkable collections of poems. The poet Georgios Kalosgouros (1849-1902).Was also scholar and translator. He learned English, French Italian and Latin, in order to translate classic masterpieces in to the Greek language. He wrote two researches for Polylas and Markoras, as well as the criticism for the theatre of Schiller. He translated the Italian poetry of Solomos, Theokritos and Aeschylus. The translation of the Hell by Dante Aligeri represents the uniqueness of his work. The poet Lorenzo Mavilis (1860-1912) Born in Ithaca, but from his first years his family moved to Corfu. He was educated at the Kapodistrias School. In 1877 he started his studies in Law in Athens and later left for 12 years in Germany. He studied philology, philosophy and he was influenced by Kant and Schopenhauer. He learned ancient Sanskrit, ancient Indian, Latin, German, Italian, French, English and Spanish. He wrote 58 sonnets, novels and translations. He translated Ghaite, Schiller, Uhland, Byron, Shelley Tennyson, Dante and Leopardi. In 1896, he participated voluntarily in the Cretan revolution and was injured. In 1910 as representative of Corfu he went to the Parliament for the problems of use of the language and said: “There is no vulgar language, but only vulgar people”. He was killed in the war of 1912 in Drisco, Ioannina. The poet and translator Stelios Chryssomallis (1836-1918)After finishing high school in Corfu, he went to Italy and France. When he returned to Corfu, he was associated with the intellectual personalities of the Corfiot School. He was a socialist and published the satiric newspaper “The bell” during 1870-1874. | 
