Christos Kapnoukagias
A prominent figure in letters and speech, Christos Kapnoukagias from Siatista left a significant mark in his region during the previous century. His life spanned almost the entire 20th century, as he was born on November 21, 1900, and passed away on April 10, 1991. Some of his slightly older fellow townspeople still remember him. He was the youngest child of the family, the "son" as he refers to himself in his work "My Mother," using the local Siatista dialect.
He studied at the University of Athens, graduating in 1924 with a degree from the Faculty of Philosophy. Upon returning to his hometown, he taught briefly at the Trampantzeio Gymnasium, and then moved to Germany for specialized studies in Latin philology. After completing his studies, he earned a doctorate from the University of Leipzig and took up the chair of Latin Philology at the University of Athens, succeeding Th. I. Kakrides, where he remained until 1949, when he retired for health reasons.
He was fortunate to have some of the most distinguished professors during his university and postgraduate studies, including Christos Tsountas, Theofanos A. Kakrides, Ulrich Wilcken, and other notable figures of the time. Among his circle of acquaintances, he mentions Linos Politis, the regular professor of Modern Greek Literature at the Aristotle University: "I developed a brotherly friendship with this student, Linos Politis, which lasted for a long time after my graduation, especially due to our ideological differences."
His love for knowledge and education was undoubtedly the main reason that "for nineteen consecutive years... I attended classes without ever missing a single lesson. So much so that, now, as a seventy-year-old elder, I was astonished by my conscientiousness back then."
In his writings, he displays a sense of humor, sometimes sharp and at other times self-deprecating: "In 1921, I taught as a detached sub-lieutenant in the Thracian Army at the Turkish elementary school in Malgara, Eastern Thrace, Greek, as a first-year philology student, but unfortunately without knowing Turkish. I believe that any of my students who survived must have thought of me as a tyrannical teacher of the Greek language." He is a keen observer of society and vividly captures his views on it. His scholarly work delves into the meanings of words, using their etymological roots to reach conclusions, reminiscent of the Aristotelian habit. Through his writing, he honors and highlights his origins by using the local dialect of his region, evoking nostalgia in the reader. He could have been a modern humorist. His written word preserves behaviors and morals from another era with a particularly insightful perspective. His writings are a unique and rare source of human behavior from the previous century.
Through his autobiographical writings, one can also find local historical events that often coincide with major national events: "But the declaration of the Greco-Turkish war on October 6, 1912, put an end to the further enjoyment of our student happiness." Figures from his homeland, who impacted his life in one way or another, are named, and his texts acquire vibrant interest. With an excellent memory and countless details, yet enjoyable for the reader, he manages to capture in writing moments from his life that took place decades earlier.
With complete and raw honesty, he pours his soul into his writings without worrying about personal exposure in a society that might not be so ready to accept his personal opinions.
• The Beautification of Women’s Faces According to Ovid, Macedonian Calendar, 1929.
• Die Nachahmungstechnik Senekas in den Chorliedern des Hercules Furens und der Medea, Leipzig, 1930 (doctoral thesis).
• Catull und Phalaecos, 1930.
• R. Heinze, The Causes of Rome's Greatness, translated by Kapnoukagias, 1930.
• Latin as a Factor in the Renaissance of Science in Greece, 1930.
• The Autobiography of Panag. Papanoum, Western Macedonia Calendar, 1933.
• Ancient Rome, 1935.
• The Leaders of Ancient Rome: Scholars and Innovations, 1938.
• Glossary of Siatista, Macedonian Calendar, 1950.
• Pages from My Autobiography, Macedonian Calendar, 1951.
• My Childhood Memories, Macedonian Calendar, 1952, 1954.
• Nikolaos Sfendonis, Macedonian Calendar, 1955.
• The Madmen of Siatista, Macedonian Calendar, 1957.
• The Culture of Siatista, Macedonian Calendar, 1959.
• My Loves, 1961.
• The Originality in Virgil’s Poetry, 1962.
• My Animal Love, 1963.
• The Art of Love According to Ovid, 1964.
• The Antidotes of Love According to Ovid, 1964.
• Seneca and the Renaissance, 1967.
• On the Heroines of Ovid, 1968.
• My Mother, 1969.
• My Father, 1972.
• De L. Annaei Senecae Apocolocyntose-Collatio editionis Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Catania, 1972.
• The Teachers of My Primary School in Siatista, Trampantzeio Gymnasium of Siatista, and the Universities of Athens, Leipzig, and Berlin (From My Autobiography), 1975, 1976, 1977.
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