Andreas Kalvos

He was born in Zakynthos in 1792. His mother’s name was Adrianne. His father, Ioannis Kalvos, was a volunteer and an officer in the Venetian mercenary army. Ioannis had been married twice, and this had a negative influence on Andreas, consequently affecting his dramatic poems. From the autumn of 1813, whilst in Italy, he met Ugo Foscolo and later entered his service as a secretary and copyist. At the same time, he studied ancient texts and, in particular, Neoclassical Italian literature. Kalvos had a turbulent and unstable love life. Finally, in 1819, he married the Englishwoman Maria Theresa Thomas and had a daughter. However, both his wife and daughter died soon afterwards, and so, leaving England in 1820, Andreas Kalvos moved between Florence, Switzerland and France. In 1826, he settled in Paris and met many Philhellenes and Orientalists. After many journeys, he left Nafplio and went to Corfu in August 1826. There he obtained a doctorate in philosophy and taught comparative literature until 1828 as a temporary lecturer. In late 1852 he left for London, where in early 1853 he married the teacher Carlotta Augusta Wadams. They settled in Louth, Lincolnshire. His wife founded a girls’ school there, and it was there that Andreas Kalvos taught mathematics and foreign languages. He died in 1867 and was buried in Kedington. The remains of Kalvos and his wife were transferred to Zakynthos in 1960.