Moskov Selim
Will be published approx. on 15. July 2026
112 pages
E-Book
978-618-5369-97-2 (ISBN)
Description
Georgios Vizyenos (1849-1896) is one of Greece's best-loved writers. Moskov Selim is set in Thrace, a corner of Europe where Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria meet. Selim is a Muslim name, yet "Moskov" implies that he is a Russian. Vizyenos' fascinating and moving story is set during a time of constant wars between Russians and Turks whose outcome would decide the future of south-east Europe: Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria were becoming independent of the Ottoman empire, while Greece was to gain huge territories at the empire's expense. Although Istanbul would remain in Turkey, it would no longer be the seat of the Ottoman Sultan, who, as caliph, was the leader of the world's Muslims.
Vizyenos' story evokes a time when Greeks and Turks could share each other's joys and pains despite the hostile relations between their governments. Listening to the protagonist's life story, the narrator of Moskov Selim discovers that this Turk is a kindred spirit, despite the gulf of nationality and religion that separates them.
Refined language and close observations mark Vizyenos's dense prose. Charged with strong emotions and a love of nature, it is a triumph that the stories' romanticism comes across fresh and true today. The demanding, complex tales are replete with character development, probing psychology and detailed descriptions.
- Publishers Weekly
Vizyenos brings into question the nature of identity and of reality as constructed by reason and senses.
- Roderick Beaton
An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature
Vizyenos' story evokes a time when Greeks and Turks could share each other's joys and pains despite the hostile relations between their governments. Listening to the protagonist's life story, the narrator of Moskov Selim discovers that this Turk is a kindred spirit, despite the gulf of nationality and religion that separates them.
Refined language and close observations mark Vizyenos's dense prose. Charged with strong emotions and a love of nature, it is a triumph that the stories' romanticism comes across fresh and true today. The demanding, complex tales are replete with character development, probing psychology and detailed descriptions.
- Publishers Weekly
Vizyenos brings into question the nature of identity and of reality as constructed by reason and senses.
- Roderick Beaton
An Introduction to Modern Greek Literature
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Persons
Georgios Vizyenos was born in 1849 in the small town of Vizye (Vize in Turkish), to the north-west of Constantinople (Istanbul). His whole life was a struggle with family and personal tragedy. His father died when the boy was five years old; two of his sisters perished in early childhood; and one of his brothers died in mysterious circumstances. Despite these inauspicious beginnings, he studied in Germany and became one of the leading Greek poets and short-story writers. Eventually, however, his psychological traumas took their toll, and he spent his last four years in Daphni mental asylum, where he died in 1896.
