Vasilis Michaelides

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vasilis Michaelides (Greek: Βασίλης Μιχαηλίδης) was born in Lefkoniko a village in the Famagusta district of Cyprus in 1849.

His first contact with the arts came in the form of hagiography, in the archbishopric in Nicosia where he trained as an artist. In 1875 he moved to Naples, Italy for further training.

He wrote several poems in Katharevousa, Dhimotiki and the Cypriot Dialect. His first poetry collection was published in 1882. Arguably, his most famous work is "The 9th of July 1821" a poem in the Cypriot dialect detailing the events leading to the execution of the Greek Cypriot leadership, including Archbishop Kyprianos, by the Ottoman rulers of the time.

He is considered by many and often referred to as the national poet of Cyprus. As such in 1978 his portrait was depicted on one of a series of stamps themed on Cypriot poets.

The latter part of his life was plagued by alcoholism. He died on the 18th of December 1917.