Georgios Tertsetis

Georgios Tertsetis (1800-1873). Georgios Tertsetis, a judge and legal scholar, son of Nathaniel Tertsetis and Katerina Strountza, was born in Zakynthos in 1800. His family hailed from Marseille and was Roman Catholic. His first teacher was the priest Lorenzo di Remo. He studied law in Bologna and Padua, where he also attended courses in Italian literature and joined the Carbonari movement. Upon returning to Greece, he was initiated into the Filiki Eteria and sent to the Peloponnese to organize the struggle, but soon returned to Zakynthos for health reasons, where he came into contact with Markos Botsaris and the circle of Solomos. During the Kapodistrias period, he fought in western Roumeli and from 1832 became a professor of French and history at the preparatory school and later a professor of military history at the military school of Nafplio. In 1833, he wrote the poem "The Kiss," dedicated to Otto, in a language inspired by folk songs. He was one of the judges in the trial of Kolokotronis in Nafplio (1834) and, after refusing to sign the conviction, was dismissed from his position and brought to trial, where he was acquitted after his famous defense. However, he resigned and left for Paris, where he stayed until 1844. There, he connected with Floreal, Guizot, and others. He returned to Athens, where he worked as an archivist for the Hellenic Parliament. In 1847, he published the poetry collection "Simple Language" with his own poems and those of others, and in 1856, two extensive poems titled "The Marriage of Alexander the Great" and "Corinna and Pindar." Other works include "La morte di Socrate" (a drama), various prose works, poems, speeches, lectures, a comedy from 1858, and translations (including Plato's "Crito"). In 1861, he traveled to Italy as an envoy of Otto and in 1866 to Europe as an envoy of the Greek government, on the occasion of the Cretan revolution. During this trip, he married the French writer Adelaide Germain in Paris. Tertsetis is mainly known for the memoirs he wrote by dictation, particularly those of Kolokotronis, as well as of Nikitaras and other fighters. His poetic works show the influence of Solomos and folk songs. Tertsetis was one of the scholars who linked the Ionian School with the First Athenian School. He died in 1873 in Athens. For more biographical details on Georgios Tertsetis, see Valetas G.M., "Tertsetis Georgios," Great Greek Encyclopedia 22. Athens, Pyrso, 1933, Yalourakis Manolis, "Tertsetis Georgios," Great Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature 12. Athens, Haris Patses, n.d., and Solomou Aliki, "Tertsetis Georgios - Markos," World Biographical Dictionary 9b. Athens, Ekdotiki Athinon, 1988. (Source: Archive of Greek Writers, EKEBI).