Andreas Karkavitsas


Andreas Karkavitsas or Carcavitsas was a Greek novelist. He was a naturalist, like Alexandros Papadiamantis.

Biography

He was born in 1866 in the north-west Peloponnese, in the town of Lechaina in Elis. He studied medicine. As an army doctor, he travelled across a great range of villages and settlements, from which he recorded traditions and legends. He died on October 10, 1922, of laryngeal cancer. Several streets in Greece have been named after him, for instance in Pyrgos.

Selected writings

YearTitleEnglish meaningPublished in
1892Διηγήματα StoriesAthens
1896Η Λυγερή The willowy girlAthens
1897Θεσσαλικές εικόνες. Ο ζητιάνος Thessalian images. The beggarAthens
1899Λόγια της πλώρης. θαλασσινά διηγήματα Words from the prow. Sea storiesAthens
1900Παλιές αγάπες 1885-1897 Old loves 1885-1897Athens
1904Ο αρχαιολόγος The archeologistAthens
1922Διηγήματα του γυλιούStories from the backpackAthens
1922Διηγήματα για τα παληκάρια μας Stories about our lads''Athens

Karkavitsas wrote in the European tradition of naturalism, which does not shrink from portraying the seamier parts of life among humble people, rather than romanticising or embellishing reality. He was a folklorist with a gift for spinning tales full of authentic details of simple people's lives, local customs, dialects and folktales, as well as psychological insights about them. He was more successful as a short-story and novella writer. "The Beggar" is a novella about con-men, violence and the grotesque practices of professional beggars. "Words from the prow" is about the lives of seafarers, fishermen and sponge-divers, full of arcane details of their craft as well as folk-tale-inflected plots of tragedy, shipwreck, hands lost at sea, murder, superstition and the supernatural, as well as the joys of making a living off the sea.

Translation