Dionysios Solomos was born in Zakynthos in 1798. In 1809 he was sent to Italy to study and
\ngraduated from Pavia University in 1817. During this time he wrote his first poems in Italian.
\nHe returned to Zakynthos in 1818 and got to know other people interested in literature. The
\nonly collection of poems he had published during his lifetime were the poems in had written
\nin Italy.
\nHis most important work was the poem he wrote \u2013 \u201cThe Hymn to Liberty\u201d which are the
\nwords to the Greek National Anthem . He was inspired to write this whilst at Stranis Hill in
\nZakynthos, listening to the sounds of the battle raging on the Greek mainland in
\nMessolonghi during the Greek Revolution in 1821. He finished the poem in 1823. It was
\npublished in 1824 and set to music by a friend of Solomos. In 1864 it was established as the
\nGreek National Anthem and is the longest anthem in the world at 153 stanzas.
\nHe later moved to the island of Corfu following a family dispute where he lived until his
\ndeath in 9 of February 1857. During his time in Corfu he also started another very famous
\npoem – \u201cThe Free Besieged\u201d, which was again inspired by the struggles endured during the
\nGreek revolution, especially the final siege at Messolonghi in 1825-26. This poem was never
\ncompleted.
\nAfter his death Dionysios Solomos was widely mourned throughout the Ionian Islands. His
\nremains were returned to Zakynthos in 1865 where he found his final resting place.
\nHe is considered the national poet of Greece, not only because he wrote the words to the
\nnational anthem but also due to his considerable contribution to Greek literature and
\npoetry.
\nAn excerpt from the poem \u201cThe Hymn to Liberty\u201d<\/p>\n
We knew thee of old,
\nOh, divinely restored,
\nBy the lights of thine eyes,
\nAnd the light of thy Sword,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
From the graves of our slain,
\nShall thy valour prevail.
\nAs we greet thee again-
\nHail, Liberty! Hail!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[The Hellenic National Anthem,
\ntranslated in English by Rudyard Kipling\u00a0in\u00a0 1918]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dionysios Solomos was born in Zakynthos in 1798. In 1809 he was sent to Italy to study and graduated from Pavia University in 1817. During this time he wrote his first poems in Italian. He returned to Zakynthos in 1818 and got to know other people interested in literature. The only collection of poems he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-updates-fr-de"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n