A child reads a newspaper in a narrow street of Mykonos. 1960s era photo.

The newspaper “Athletic Echo” (1951)

“The biggest flaw is frivolity. Everything we realize is for good.”

Oscar Wilde

In the newspaper “Athletic Echo”, the journalist Timos Moraitis edited the publication of a lengthy text entitled “Coutaliano’s Autobiography”. The content of the text is very similar to that published in the newspaper “Marmarina News”. The chronological order in which the various events are listed is close, but in the “Athletic Echo”, it seems as if someone has added some elements that flatter the athlete and which are probably fiction and not facts. I am of the opinion that the text published in the newspaper “Marmarina News” approaches the facts in a more realistic way and therefore I consider it as a more reliable source. Nevertheless, the text published in “Athletic Echo” has a special interest, and this because in its introductory notes valuable information and testimonies of people who were lucky enough to see Coutalianos are listed. We studied the text carefully and comparing it with other sources, we tried to isolate the exaggerations, keeping for the writing of the athlete’s biography those elements that more realistically approach the true story.

January 31, 1951. Introduction to the lengthy article by Timos Moraitis. Among other things, the title states that it is “The true story of the life of the Νew Hercules, based on information extracted from his handwritten diary”. Unfortunately, so far we have not been able to find in any source, even a photocopy of these handwritten notes that the journalist claims belonged to Coutalianos. The fact that the journalist does not publish even one photocopy of them raises our suspicions that he is either lying or that he intends to embellish the story of Coutalianos with exaggerations and myths. After all, we know from other sources that Koutalianos was illiterate and therefore could not have been able to keep notes in a diary. This is the reason that makes us consider that the text published in the “Marmarina News” newspaper is closer to the truth and that the “Athletic Echo” has a tendency to exaggerate. In any case, we speculate that there is the possibility that a text of limited pages and autograph was circulated at some point – not of course by the hand of Coutalianos – but by someone who wanted to save various details from the athlete’s life. After all, we must not forget that in those distant times (1916) photocopying documents was a difficult and costly process. Therefore, I believe that the journalist of the specific article happened to discover some text related to the life of Coutalianos. Possibly this text contained several fictional elements that may or may not have been related to the real life of Coutalianos. But there is also the possibility that the journalist Timos Moraitis himself supplemented the text that fell into his hands with several elements that he drew from his own imagination.
February 2, 1951. Introduction to the lengthy article by Timos Moraitis.
February 4, 1951. The history of the lithograph depicting Coutalianos.
February 5, 1951. The history of the lithograph depicting Coutalianos. Details about the way the athlete dressed and his appearance in general.
February 7, 1951. The great Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos talks about the experience he had when he was a small child, seeing Coutalianos up close.
February 9, 1951. The professor of the University of Athens I. Georgiadis talks about his childhood memories, when he saw Coutalianos up close in a performance given by the athlete in Tripoli.
February 9, 1951
February 10, 1951. The journalist T. Moraitis attempts to record interesting facts related to the character of Coutalianos.
February 11, 1951. How the fame of the great athlete inspired many Greeks to write and dedicate poems to him. Recording of various folklore elements related to the life and activities of Coutalianos
February 14, 1951. Various elements referring to the character of Coutalianos.
The author of the article describes the way in which the biography of Coutalianos was published. Among other things, he mentions that the Greek expatriate scholar G. P. Kastritsis, who lived in New York, undertook the editing of the texts handed over to him by the sons of Coutalianos.
February 16, 1951. the journalist T. Moraitis explains the way Coutalianos wrote his memoirs. We do not know why the reporter did not publish a photocopy of them.
February 18, 1951. the reference of the great Greek painter F. Kontoglou to Coutalianos.
One of the incidents described by Spatharis in the following testimony took place in the area of ​​Kolokynthos in Athens. We are therefore quoting an old photo from the area and a fragment of the description of the area by the author Em. Roides. (In the above photo we see the church of Panagia Colokintous, as it used in the 19th century. We got the photo from the web “Ta Athinaika”)
One of the banks of the Kifissos river is located twenty minutes away from the square of Omonia, that is, the one that passes through the area of Colokintous and reaches Sepolia. Nowhere in Attica are there so many and so beautiful reeds. These when the wind blows look beautiful, and they lean next to each other as if they are talking secretly. Sepolia is the only oasis between Lycabettus and Daphni. Em. Roides/ The countryside of Athens.
February 22, 1951. The naive Greek painter S. Spatharis refers to the story of Coutalianos and expresses his intention to paint a series of works depicting the athlete. He even hopes that these paintings will later decorate an edition of Coutaliano’s biography.

Work of the (naive) painter Evgenios Spatharis (1924-2009), depicting Coutalianos’ father killing a bear with his hands. This episode, which according to testimonies happened in Asia Minor, indicates that Panagis Coutalianos had inherited from his father the gift of strength.
February 23, 1951. Two episodes from the life of Coutalianos.
February 24, 1951. The writer Alkis Kostakis writes an article that refers to the value of Coutaliano’s biography and the impact the athlete had on modern Greek art.
February 24, 1951
February 25, 1951. Details related to Coutaliano’s biography. The journalist T. Moraitis explains the way of writing Coutalianos’ memoirs a few days after his death.
February 26, 1951. Introduction to the biography of Coutalianos. A rare photo is published that clearly shows the athlete.
February 28, 1951. Coutalianos is located in Latin America. Various stories from his life are described. Facing a bull. The unknown story of a statue erected in his honor in Peru.
March 1, 1951. Details of Coutalianos’ life on his island. Various memories of his mother.
March 2, 1951. Childhood memories of Coutalianos. His first muscle feat.
March 3, 1951. Various details from Coutalianos’ childhood. Historical facts related to the Greek inhabitants of the islands of the Sea of ​​Marmara.
March 4, 1951. The death of Coutalianos’ father on the island of Lesvos.
March 5, 1951. The death of Coutalianos’ father on the island of Lesvos. Various childhood memories.
March 7, 1951. How Coutaliano’s father killed a bear in Izmir (Smyrna), fighting against it with only his hands.
March 8, 1951. How Coutaliano’s father killed a bear in Izmir (Smyrna), fighting against it with only his hands.
March 9, 1951. How Coutaliano’s father killed a bear in Izmir (Smyrna), fighting against it with only his hands.
March 10, 1951. Various incidents from the adventures of Coutalianos’ father.
March 11, 1951. Various incidents from the adventures of Coutalianos’ father.
March 13, 1951. Coutalianos became a sailor at the age of just 8. Description of his difficult childhood.
March 14, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos when he was a small child and worked as a sailor on various ships. His gradual strengthening and the discovery that he was gifted with supernatural power.
March 15, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos when he was a small child and worked as a sailor on various ships. His gradual strengthening and the discovery that he was gifted with supernatural power.
March 16, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos when he was a small child and worked as a sailor on various ships. His gradual strengthening and the discovery that he was gifted with supernatural power.
March 17, 1951. Coutalianos visits the island of Syros. He performs displays of strength and excites the inhabitants of the island.
March 18, 1951. Coutalianos discovers his supernatural strength by lifting a large anchor by himself.
March 19, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires faces various wrestlers and defeats them.
March 21, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires faces various wrestlers and defeats them.
March 22, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto (incorrectly listed as Repetto)
March 24, 1951
March 25, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto.
March 26, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto.
March 28, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto.

March 29, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents.
March 30, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents.
March 31, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents. Thousands of spectators flock to the Alcazar Theater to see the much-publicized fight between Coutalianos and Raffetto.
April 1, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents. Thousands of spectators flock to the Alcazar Theater to see the much-publicized fight between Coutalianos and Raffetto.
April 4, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents. Thousands of spectators flock to the Alcazar Theater to see the much-publicized fight between Coutalianos and Raffetto.
April 5, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents. Thousands of spectators flock to the Alcazar Theater to see the much-publicized fight between Coutalianos and Raffetto.
April 6, 1951. Coutalianos in Buenos Aires takes on Italian wrestling champion Raffetto. Recounting various incidents. Thousands of spectators flock to the Alcazar Theater to see the much-publicized fight between Coutalianos and Raffetto. Coutalianos moves to Montevideo.
April 7, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos in Montevideo. Giannis Maniatis and Raffetto try to deceive Coutalianos.
April 8, 1951. Coutalianos defeats Raffetto in a wrestling match once more.
April 11, 1951. Coutalianos is touring Brazil.
April 12, 1951. Coutalianos is touring Brazil.
April 13, 1951. Coutalianos is touring Brazil.
April 14, 1951. Coutalianos is touring France. He is in Bordeaux and faces various wrestlers.
April 15, 1951. Coutalianos is touring France. He is in Bordeaux and faces various wrestlers. The swindler Yiannis Maniatis steals money from Coutalianos and disappears in England.
April 16, 1951. Coutalianos is touring France. It is located in Bordeaux and is trained by the famous French wrestler Bernard.
April 18, 1951. Various incidents from the life of Coutalianos in France.
April 19, 1951. Various incidents from the life of Coutalianos in France.
April 20, 1951. Coutalianos is in England. He faces the famous Italian wrestler Felice Napoli (or Anapoli) whom he defeats.
April 21, 1951. Coutalianos is in England. He faces the famous Italian wrestler Felice Napoli (or Anapoli) whom he defeats.
April 22, 1951. Coutalianos is in England. He faces the famous Italian wrestler Felice Napoli (or Anapoli) whom he defeats.
April 26, 1951. Coutalianos tours England and faces various wrestlers.
April 27, 1951. Coutalianos tours England and faces various wrestlers.
April 28, 1951. In a wrestling match Coutalianos accidentally kills an opponent and is forced to flee England before he is captured.
April 29, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos. The athlete manages to move to South America.
April 30, 1951. Coutalianos is in Montevideo facing various wrestlers.
May 3, 1951. Coutalianos is in Montevideo facing various wrestlers.
May 4, 1951. Coutalianos is in Montevideo facing various wrestlers.
May 7, 1951. Coutalianos is in Montevideo and fights against a tiger which he manages to strangle with his hands.
May 8, 1951. Coutalianos returns to Buenos Aires and faces various wrestlers.
May 9, 1951. The marriage of Coutalianos with his Italian wife Palmira.
May 10, 1951. The marriage of Coutalianos with his Italian wife Palmira.
May 11, 1951. Coutalianos lifts a horse with his teeth.
May 12, 1951. Various episodes of Coutalianos’ life in Argentina.
May 13, 1951. In South America, Coutalianos acquires the reputation of the “iron man”
May 16, 1951. In South America, Coutalianos acquires the reputation of the “iron man”
May 18, 1951. Coutalianos is touring Chile. He demonstrates his strength in front of the president of Chile. Narrative of various incidents.
May 25, 1951. Coutalianos is touring Chile. He demonstrates his strength in front of the president of Chile. Narrative of various incidents.
June 1, 1951. Narrative of various incidents from Coutaliano’s tours in South America.
June 6, 1951. Narrative of various incidents from Coutaliano’s tours in South America.
June 7, 1951. Coutalianos is in Constantinople. He is invited by the Sultan to the palace and faces various wrestlers.
June 8, 1951. Coutalianos is in Constantinople. He is invited by the Sultan to the palace and faces various wrestlers.
June 9, 1951. Coutalianos tours various cities of the Ottoman Empire.
June 10, 1951. Coutalianos tours various cities of the Ottoman Empire. Recounting various episodes of his life.
June 13, 1951. Coutalianos visits Athens and gives performances.
June 14, 1951. Coutalianos tours various cities of Asia Minor.
June 16, 1951. Coutalianos surprises with his terrifying athletic performances.
June 18, 1951. Coutalianos surprises with his terrifying athletic performances.
June 21, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos. Fighting a Bulgarian wrestler.
June 22, 1951. Description of various episodes from the life of Coutalianos. Lifting 2040 kg.
June 23, 1951. Coutalianos is arrested in Vienna by the police, because he raised the Greek flag on stage. (We know this incident never happened.)
June 24, 1951. Coutalianos in Odessa throws a huge barrel containing about 1000 liters of water.
June 25, 1951. Tour of various cities of the Russian Empire. Coutalianos condemns a wrestler in the Crimean city of Theodosia.
June 27, 1951. Tour of various cities of the Russian Empire. Coutalianos is invited by the Tsar to the imperial palaces.
June 29, 1951. On the occasion of the holding of the first Olympic Games in Athens (1896), Coutalianos receives an official invitation from the Greek state in order to participate with some institutional role.
June 30, 1951. Coutalianos tours Egypt.
July 1, 1951. Coutalianos is arrested on the island of Rhodes by the Ottoman authorities and sentenced to prison without trial.
July 2, 1951. Coutalianos is released from prison, but has already lost a large part of his property. Nevertheless, he finds the strength to stand on his feet and starts a new round of tours in different cities. He travels to England where he stars in various episodes.
July 4, 1951. Description of various incidents from the tour of Coutalianos in cities of Asia Minor.
July 5, 1951. Hellin Coutalianos, son of Panagis makes his maiden appearance as a wrestler.
July 6, 1951. Hellin Coutalianos gives performances in Alexandria, Egypt achieving amazing performances.
July 7, 1951. Various adventures of Coutalianos in Egypt.
July 8, 1951. Coutalianos settles in his birthplace and is engaged in the cultivation of his land.
July 9, 1951. The Greek inhabitants of the islands of the Sea of ​​Marmara are violently uprooted from their homes by order of the Turkish authorities.
July 11, 1951. Various episodes of the life of Coutalianos when he was old. He still performs athletic feats.
July 12, 1951. Various episodes of the life of Coutalianos when he was old. He still performs athletic feats.
July 13, 1951. Various episodes of the life of Coutalianos when he was old.
July 14, 1951. The Greek inhabitants of the islands of the Sea of ​​Marmara are violently uprooted from their homes by order of the Turkish authorities.
July 15, 1951. The death of Coutalianos. Epilogue of the athlete’s life.
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