Honorary edition about Aristides Phoutrides (Foutridis) – From Ikaria to Harvard

aristeidis foutridis bookThe publication is dedicated by all Ikarians to the memory of Aristides Foutridis, the most important ambassador from Ikaria of the Greek Secretariat in America and is implemented in the context of the general honor for his life and work.

Author: Collective – Special Edition
Publications: Festival of Ikaria
Year: 2015

Aristides Phoutrides
Aristides Phoutrides was born in Evdilos on the Aegean island of Ikaria to Evangelos Foutridis, a captain, and Aspasia (née Poulianos).Due to the scarcity of work on the island during his childhood, Phoutrides’ father moved the family to the Khedivate of Egypt (modern-day Egypt). In 1905 Phoutrides migrated to the United States, where he studied at Northfield Mount Hermon School and Harvard University. In 1911, he founded the first Greek American students association, named Helicon (or Helikon). He graduated with a PhD in classics in 1915 and became the youngest professor at Harvard. After World War I, Phoutrides began teaching at Yale University and then the University of Athens in 1919. After Venizelos fell, he returned to Yale in 1920, where he was assistant professor until his death. He was a recipient of the Bowdoin Prize. Much of Phoutrides’ career focused on analysing and translating the works of his contemporary and friend, the Greek poet Kostis Palamas, as is reflected by his publication record. Phoutrides also co-published with American mountaineer Francis P. Farquhar and fellow Greek-American writer Demetra Kenneth Brown.

In 1921 he married Margaret Gertrude Garrison in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Phoutrides died suddenly from a heart attack aged 36 in 1923.

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