Aristotelis Valaoritis

Aristotelis Valaoritis was a Greek poet and politician who was born in Lefkada in 1824. He was of Aromanian origin and his father was a rich merchant from Epirus. He completed his school education in Lefkada and Corfu and then went to France and Italy to study law. However, he never worked as a lawyer but devoted himself to poetry. He married Eloisa, the daughter of the Venetian scholar Emilio De Tipaldo, in 1849 and settled in the small island of Madouri near Lefkada. He wrote many poems in simple language about the Greek War of Independence and the heroes of the revolution, such as Athanasios Diakos, Astrapogiannos, and Thanasis Bagias. He also wrote an unfinished poem, O Fotinos, about the Voukentra revolt of 1357 in Lefkada against the Venetian occupation. He was considered a representative of the Heptanese School of poetry and a national poet. He also got involved in politics and fought for the rights of the Ionian Islands, which were under British protection at the time. He was a member of the Parliament of the United States of the Ionian Islands and advocated for the union of the islands with the Kingdom of Greece. After the union was achieved in 1864, he moved to Athens and became a member of the Greek Parliament. His speeches were influenced by his poetic language and his rhetorical skills were remarkable. He also supported the integration of Epirus to Greece, a goal that was not fully accomplished until the Balkan Wars. He died in Lefkada in 1879 due to heart failure. He was the great-grandfather of Nanos Valaoritis, one of the most distinguished writers of Greece.