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Consists of papers of Phoutrides. Included are 123 multi-page handwritten letters (most on Harvard University letterhead) to his sister and other close relatives, while he was in Athens, Cairo, and the United States from 1904 to 1923 (his last letter - Sept.1923). Description in detail of his short life, personal, professional, literary, and scholarly affairs. Included also are: a copy of his latest letter to Palamas, whose works he translated into English; the charter of the Hellenic Students Association of America (Helicōn); certificates; his wedding invitation; unpublished poems; and pamphlets.
The collection is open for research.
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under
Acquired with matching funds provided by the Program in Hellenic Studies with the support of the Stanley J. Seeger Hellenic Fund,
No material was removed during 2013 processing.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Aristides E. Phoutrides papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
This collection was processed by Kalliopi Balatsouka in 2013. Finding aid written by Kalliopi Balatsouka in 2013.
Aristides Phoutrides was born in 1887 in the island of Ikaria (Greece). He came to the United States at a very young age. Trained in the Classics at Harvard University (A.B. summa cum laude 1911, Ph.D. 1915), Phoutrides taught Greek and Latin there until 1917 and again in 1921. The same year he left for Yale, where he taught until his sudden and untimely death in the summer of 1923. Despite the brevity of his life, Phoutrides won numerous distinctions and awards. His contribution to the study of Modern Greek literature and folklore was significant. In addition to his pioneering translations of Modern Greek Literature, he was the first in the United States to publish significant critical works on Modern Greek Letters. His personal acquaintance with the poet Kōstēs Palamas, who led Phoutrides from his initial support of puristic Greek (kathareuousa) to an appreciation of demotic Greek, had great impact on the formation of his intellectual and scholarly identity. In addition to scholarship, Phoutrides devoted himself to creative writing. His literary works, ranging from poetry to short stories and drama, were all written in English and published in various periodicals of the time. On May 21st, 1916 the Boston Herald wrote: "Aristides E. Phoutrides is one of the great poets of the future." He also established one of the first Greek student organizations in the United States, Helikōn (1911-1918).
After his death his widow, Margaret Garrison Phoutrides, donated part of his personal library to the Harvard College Library, and also endowed a scholarship in her husband's memory. [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~modgreek/history.html]
Consists of letters written by Phoutrides to his close relatives, mostly to his sister Despoina, a few to his mother and his brother Neilos Phoutrides, to his brother-in-law, and to the rest of his siblings. Letters are in both Greek and English and one in Italian, many on Harvard letterhead and some on Greek Student's Association "Helicon", while Phoutrides was in Athens, Kavala (Greece), Berlin (Germany), Shibin El Kom (Egypt), and several places in the United States. There is also a copy of his latest letter to the Greek poet Kōstēs Palamas (March 25, 1923). Included are a few letters from Neilos Phoutrides, one from Mary E. Haskell (September 29, 2012), one from N. Megitēs (January 11, 1911), one from Margaret Phoutrides to Despoina Phoutrides (August 21, 1921), and one from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Univerity. Some of the letters contain poems by Phoutrides either in Greek or in English.
Correspondence has been arranged by recipient(s) in a chronological order.
Includes outgoing correspondence.
Includes correspondence with his brother Neilos Phoutrides.
Includes outgoing correspondence to Phoutrides's sister, Despoina. Some of the letters do not specify the name of his sister.
Included are letters to Phoutrides's siblings (mostly to his sister Despoina) written both in English and Greek. At the end of the folder there are undated letters to his sister (no name is specified; only one of these letters is addressed to Despoina) on the same Harvard letterhead in English; they belong to the decade 1910-1911.
Includes letters from Phoutrides to his family, including his sister Despoina. There is also one letter from Mary E. Haskell to Despoina [Phoutrides] written on Miss Haskell's School letterhead, dated September 29, 1912.
Includes outgoing correspondence, as well as Phoutrides' wedding invitation to Mr. and Mrs. John N. Lahovary and Aspasia Phoutrides. At the end of the folder there are undated letters from Phoutrides to close family members, mostly to his sister Despoina and one letter to John Lahovary (Despoina's husband) with an excerpt in Latin.
Consists of correspondence with friends and acquaintances, including one letter from J.G. Hart (Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University); one from N. Mengitēs; one letter to Mr. and Mrs. Tsatsos; and a photocopy of Phoutrides's last letter to the poet Kōstēs Palamas (in Greek) dated March 25, 1923.
Includes a membership certificate of the Cosmopolitan Club of Harvard University (February 24, 1909); a teaching certificate (September 30, 1910); and a school certificate of Phoutrides's sister Despoina Phoutridou (1894-1895).
Includes a printed copy (in Greek) of the By-laws of the Greek student organization Ho Helikōn, dated May 20, 1921; a copy of a pamphlet containing a list of the winners of academic distinctions in Harvard College dated December 17, 1909; the one hundred and first annual meeting of the American Board of Commisioners for Foreign Missions (October 11-14, 1910); and a clipping of the Greek newspaper Empros (October 5, 1923) with an article about Phoutrides's death.