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Coutalianos on the island of Lefkada

Kostas Michos
July 27, 2023
9:27 am

The testimony of a famous poet

“The strongest of all warriors are these two- Time and Patience.”
Leo Tolstoy

"The isles of Greece, the isles
of Greece!
Where burning Sapho loved and sang,
Where grew the arts of war and peace, 
Where Delos rose, and Phoebus
sprang!
Eternal summer gilds them
yet,
But all, except their sun, is
set."
                               BYRON

On one of his tours in Western Greece, Coutalianos happened to visit the island of Lefkada. The publications in this chapter commemorate his passage from there and point out that the presence of Coutalianos on the island remained indelible in the memory of many people for many years.

The above text commemorates the visit of Coutalianos to the island of Lefkada in 1903. This comment is signed by the eminent Greek traveler P.Th. Kouniakis which we present in the following photo.

The Municipal Theater of Lefkada, where Coutalianos may have given a performance when he was on the island.

The Municipal Theater of Lefkada in 1905, as depicted in a photograph from that time. On the right, as the arrow shows, is the Theater – behind it, the old Gymnasium – on the left, houses in an area that, because it was newly built, was called by the island’s inhabitants as “New Country”

The year Coutalianos visited the island of Lefkada, he happened to be closely followed by the then minor Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos. Many years later, the poet describes his experience and the very vivid memory he had of the famous Greek athlete in the newspaper “Athletic Echo”.