Dissertation committee:
Χρυσόθεμις Σταματοπούλου-Βασιλάκου, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια ΕΚΠΑ
Κυριακή Πετράκου, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια ΕΚΠΑ
Ευριπίδης
Γαραντούδης, Καθηγητής Τμ. Φιλολογίας ΕΚΠΑ
Αλεξία Αλτουβά, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια ΕΚΠΑ
Αικατερίνη Δικομοπούλου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια ΕΚΠΑ
Γρηγόριος Ιωαννίδης,
Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ
Παναγιώτης Μιχαλόπουλος, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
N. Hager-Boufidis was born in Athens at the end of the 19th century, in 1899. Ηe was the son of a wealthy family, a descendant of the aristocratic family of the German Frederick Hager on his father's side and the grandson of the Livadite politician and speaker of the Parliament Nikolaos Boufidis on the side of his mother. He grew up in Athens, Patras and Mansoura (Egypt) and he was independent and daring. During the difficult times of World War II, he furiously defended his ideas of freedom and was imprisoned by the Germans, just as during the civil war. He firmly believed in human values, while he was characterized as peculiar, perhaps judged for the unpretentious straightforwardness of his opinion and his refusal to submit to groups, schools and even parties. Modest and "humble", he lived his whole life quietly. Beeing out of this world and dreamy, he confessed that he was terribly enthusiastic. Extremely beloved in all philological and artistic circles, as well as lover of the fairer sex, he declared, however, that he was only in love with his wife, Athena, a girl of humble origin, with whom he had two sons, Panos and Kostis, while another great love of his life was his wolfdog Norma. His unlimited love for animals is also manifested in his poems that move with their sensitivity throughout time.
At the beginning of the 20th century, technology and science were in constant effervescence with progress and promises for the auspicious evolution of mankind. At the same time, significant social rearrangements took place as liberal, socialist and anarchist ideas demanded their realization. Modernism overturned all the previous artistic stereotypes and in Greece Boufidis "brought the sharp turn towards the evolution of art", as it was said, with his poetry collections Songs in modern rhythms (Tragoudia se modernous skopous- Τραγούδια σε μοντέρνους σκοπούς) and The Μodern ones (Ta Moderna - Τα Μοντέρνα), while it was argued that he was "the most representative type of modern Greek literature".
N. Hager-Boufidis (he never signed as Nikos or Nikolaos) made his first appearance at the literary field in 1916 with the short story "The Little Girl" (Ι Mikroula - Η Μικρούλα) and the pseudonym Issandros Aris. Two years later, he also appeared as a poet, with a revolutionary and pioneering pen, influenced by French symbolism. Like his fellow traveling companions of the neo-romantic and neo-symbolist school, but also as an excellent manipulator of language, he wanted to free poetry from lyrics and rhymes, bringing it closer to everyday life. His literary career was completed by writing short stories, novels and essays. As a literary critic, he declared – defying the price – that criticism was mostly a means of enforcing the stronger and of course he did not miss, in a "deep" confession in his poetry collection Autobiography (1943), to judge himself as well.
Hager-Boufidis had a deep love for the theater. Apparently it was a need for expression and a way of life for him when at the age of about ten he wrote his first play. His first published play was The Night (1916), (I nýchta - Η Νύχτα), which was published at the same time as his first short story, only to be withdrawn from circulation and disowned by its creator. Eight years later, the play was performed in Pagrati by the "Youth Troupe" under the new title Far to the Light, (Makryá sto fos - Μακρυά στο φως), which caused confusion about its identity, not only then but up to the present day. The participation of Hager-Boufidis in the literary evenings of the "Youth Troupe" was remarkable. His play New Year's Eve, ( Paramoní Protochroniás - Παραμονή Πρωτοχρονιάς), which he wrote together with Kostis Velmyra in 1929, won the first prize of the Savidian drama competition. After the dissolution of the "Youth Troupe", Boufidis collaborated with the writers K. Velmyra and D. Evaggelidis and they wrote a review (musical). In this theatrical genre he also collaborated with G. Epachtitis, Antonis and Lola Vottis. His cooperation was also important in Mantra of Atticus (1931) with two one-act plays, What happened anyway?( Ti synévi télos pánton? - Τι συνέβη τέλος πάντων;) or The Madras Robbery (I listeía tis Mantras - Η ληστεία της Μάντρας) and Do You Have a Daughter? (Écheis mia kóri? Έχεις μία κόρη;). Hager-Boufidis also served theater criticism for a number of years, writing for various prestigious newspapers of his time. His theatrical dialogues that were published in the press, mainly in the magazine Theatis, had left an era.
N. Hager-Boufidis, among other things, was a distinguished journalist, trailblazer and pioneer in this field as well, with an uninterrupted, multifaceted and strong presence in the Athenian press, wrote articles in almost all the publications of his time, newspapers and magazines, in some of of which he was editorial director as well as publisher. Among them the leading magazines Theatis, Week, Bouquet, but also the children's literary magazine Children's Fun, given the fact that Hager-Boufidis' deep love for children and his ability to express in a simple way the most complex and deep emotions included him among the many and famous partners of this magazine. In 1937 he was elected in complete agreement president of the Union of Magazine Editors. When he was released from prison in 1946, he celebrated the twenty-five years of his poetic work, which had been recognized by the entire literary and artistic elite. He was the poet of the poor and the weak and until the end of his life he remained a non-conformist. Suffering by repeated hardships, he died relatively young in 1950. His work, consisting of poems, plays, short stories, novels, articles, essays, etc., which he had collected with a lot of care into volumes intending to publish them;, was lost and his touching and remarkable contribution to art and to mankind was closed in the time cupboard of oblivion.
