Adamantios Korais
| Adamantios Korais | |
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Adamantios Korais (1748–1833)
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| Born |
27 April 1748 Smyrna |
| Died | 6 April 1833 (aged 84) Paris |
| Alma mater |
University of Montpellier (MBBS, 1786; MD, 1787) |
| Era | Age of Enlightenment |
| School | Liberalism, Modern Greek Enlightenment |
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Main interests
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Political philosophy, history, freedom of religion, Greek language, Greek Independence |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Adamantios Korais or Koraïs (Greek: Ἀδαμάντιος Κοραῆς; Latin: Adamantius Coraes; French: Adamance Coray; 27 April 1748 – 6 April 1833) was a Greek humanist scholar credited with laying the foundations of Modern Greek literature and a major figure in the Greek Enlightenment. His activities paved the way for the Greek War of Independence and the emergence of a purified form of the Greek language, known as Katharevousa. Encyclopædia Britannica asserts that "his influence on the modern Greek language and culture has been compared to that of Dante on Italian and Martin Luther on German".
Korais was born in Smyrna, in 1748. He was exceptionally passionate about philosophy, literacy and linguistics and studied greatly throughout his youth. He initially studied in his home place, where he graduated from the Evangelical Greek School. As an adult Korais traveled to Paris where he would continue his enthusiasm for knowledge. He translated ancient Greek authors and produced thirty volumes of those translations.
Korais studied at the school of medicine of the University of Montpellier from 1782 to 1787. His 1786 diploma thesis was entitled Pyretologiae Synopsis, while his 1787 doctoral thesis was entitled Medicus Hippocraticus. After 1788 he was to spend most of his life as an expatriate in Paris. A classical scholar, Korais was repelled by the Byzantine influence in Greek society and was a fierce critic of the ignorance of the clergy and their subservience to the Ottoman Empire, although he conceded it was the Orthodox Church that preserved the national identity of Greeks.
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Wikipedia