INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

was born on this island of the Aegean see on 15 th February 1835. He
was the first born of the four children of Emmanuel and Smaragda
Vikelas. Dimitrios received an excellent education due to the fact that
his family was well off and his mother Smaragda was a woman of
great learning. So, young Dimitrios possessed a lot of remarkable
virtues at a very young age and gave considerable signs of his culture,
when at the age of 15 15 he translated the tragedy ‘Esther’ by Racin. At
the same time he gave clear indications of his literary talent by writing
remarkable poems.
At the age of 17, on 17 th May 1852, Dimitrios Vikelas took leave
of his parents in Constantinople 16 , and after passing Syros he headed
towards London where he was received by his mother’s two brothers,
businessmen Vasilios and Leonidas Melas. In London, Vikelas was to
spend a long period of his life. Here, in London, he reached manhood,
he acquired academic education and made a lot of acquaintances with
important people from politics, trade and culture as well as a big
fortune, which allowed him to quit his business activities 17 and devote
himself to literature and his country. Finally, here he met and married
his wife Calliope. During his staying in London, he managed to
combine harmoniously his business activities with his literary and
social activities. So, Vikelas put a lot of his free time into studying
and translating texts and writing short stories 18 . His short story ‘Loukis
Laras’, became well known all over the world, it was translated into
many foreign languages and it brought Greece and Greek literature to
the international foreground while Vikelas became internationally
known.
At the age of 45, well- equipped with his economic independence,
his name, his social contacts and acquaintances 19 with important
persons Vikelas contributed to the development of a great feeling of
Phil Hellenism in the European countries. He also played a part in a
more fair treatment of Greek affairs by the International Diplomacy.
His love for Greece conduced to his decision to leave London on 9 th
November 1876 and come to Greece to live in Athens for the rest of
his life 20 .
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