Name Johannes Gaitanides Role Author | ||
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Johannes Gaitanides (born 1909 in Dresden; died 1988 in Schondorf) was a German author and journalist.
Contents
Biography
Gaitanides was born as a son of a Greek father and a German mother. He studied in Munich German literature, history and literature. He finished his studies in 1936 with a dissiteration (Dr. phil.).
His activities during the Second World War are unclear and have differing accounts. He himself stated that he continued his work reporting and publishing for News stations and the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and even that he had emigrated to Greece temporarily for political reasons. However, other accounts claim that he had cooperated during the war as a war correspondent for the government, and a special Waffen-SS contact.
In his 1940 published work "New Greece" Gaitanides wrote: "... in Greece there is no Jewish question, just as in Turkish times Jews held a significant position; their danger is further characterized by their low international status as second-class." In the Soviet Occupation Zone, the plant was put on the list of proscribed literature.
After World War II, Gaitanides henceforth called John (instead of the common shorthand form Hans), began writing as a freelance journalist for several newspapers and as a political commentator for the Bavarian Radio and Bavarian television. In the 1970s, was a senior editor at ‘’Donaukurier in Ingolstadt, a newspaper of central Bavaria.
His numerous publication on Greece, which he toured regularly through his life, were some of his most significant works. As the works of Jacques Lacarrière for French-speaking audiences shaped the image of Greece, Gaitanides' works did the same for the German-speaking public and led to major tourism and interest. His book Greece without columns: representing the history of Greece in modern times, is regarded as a prominent work. His works have been translated into many languages (English, Dutch, etc.).
1964 Gaitanides was awarded the Theodor Wolff Prize. He died in 1988 in his hometown am Ammersee.
Quotes
"Die griechische Mahlzeit ist nicht Selbstzweck, sie ist vielmehr Vorwand und Anlass und Initialzündung der Geselligkeit, und sie glückt um so mehr, je gelungener der Anlass".
("The Greek meal is not an end in itself, rather it is a pretext and occasion and initial spark of sociability, which succeed more so, depending on the meal's success").
Broadcasts on BR
Books
Books about Greece
Gaitanides travelled often to Greece and wrote many books about it. Griechenland ohne Säulen (Greece without columns) is a book about modern Greece and was quite successful. In 1964 he received the Theodor Wolff Award.