Adamantios Korais
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Adamantios Korais (Coraïs) (Greek Αδαμάντιος Κοραής) (April 27, 1748–April 6, 1833) was born in Smyrna, in 1748. He was exceptionally passionate about philosophy, literacy and linguistics and studied greatly throughout his youth. As an adult Korais traveled to Paris where he would continue his enthusiasm for knowledge. He translated ancient Greek authors and produced thirty volumes of those translations. Korais graduated from the University of Montpellier in 1788 and was to spend most of his life as an expatriate in Paris. A classical scholar, Korais was repelled by the Byzantine influence in Greek society and was a fierce critic of the ignorance of the clergy and their subservience to the Ottoman Empire, although he believed it was the Orthodox Church that preserved the national identity of Greeks. His main preoccupation was with education and he encouraged wealthy Greeks to open new libraries and schools throughout Greece. Korais believed that education would ensure not only the achievement of independence but also the establishment of a proper constitution for the new liberated Greek state. Korais also assisted in purifying a form of the Greek language (Katharevousa).
While in Paris, he was witness to the French Revolution. He was influenced by the revolutionary and liberal sentiments of his age. He admired Thomas Jefferson; and exchanged political and philosophical thoughts with the American Statesman. He promoted the Marquis de La Fayette to become President of Greece. His greatest contribution was the planting of the seed of freedom, on the Greek people. He envisioned a democratic Greece, recapturing the glory of the Golden Age of Pericles. His most tangent contributions were literary. Those who were instrumental in publishing, and presenting his work to the public were merchants from Chios.
He felt eternally grateful to these merchants. Without them, it would have been financially impossible for him to publish his works. These works included Strabo in Greek, another on Marcus Aurelius, his translation of Herodotus, the translation of the Iliad, and his main literary work, a seventeen volume " Library of Greek Literature".
One of his greatest accomplishments was the redefining of the Greek Language. The Greeks were dispersed so widely, from Russia, to Northern Africa, the Middle East, Rumania, Italy, and as far as Central Europe, people who served several masters, had bastardized their language to the point, where they could not communicate with one another. He decided to purge the demotic (the vernacular or spoken language) of foreign elements. His intent was to bring the language as close as possible to the classic of Ancient Greece. This effort ultimately led to his publishing the "Atakta", the first Modern Greek dictionary.
In 1877, Koraïs' remains were sent to Greece, to be interred there.
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