Pavlos Xioutas
Pavlos Xioutas
Pavlos Xioutas was born in the town of Kato Paphos (in western Cyprus) on January 25th, 1908. His father was a seaman and fisherman and his mother was a villager. He graduated from the Gymnasium of Limasol and received his degree in Philology (Language and Literature) from the University of Athens (1926-1930).
He served as high school professor at several high schools through out the island, including the Pancyprian Gymnasium in Nicosia, and was principal of the Higher Greek School of Morphou (1941-1942) and of the Higher Greek School of Yialousa (1951-1952) of which he was instrumental in its building and establishment. Characteristic of the Cypriot community, the villagers offered their services for free and those who could not contribute service contributed money voluntarily. The new school was erected without any government funding.
In 1951-1956 he served as a representative of the
United States Congressional Library in Cyprus. In 1961-1962 was appointed
by President Makarios as the first Director of the Office of Press and
Information of the Cyprus Republic. He closed his distinguished literary
career as the Principal of the Pancyprian Gymnasium for Women of Kykkou
(presently Gymnasium of Makariou the 3rd) from 1963 to 1968.
Xiouta has been an outspoken supporter of justice for all, and participated in most of the activities for the independence of Cyprus from the British occupation for which he was imprisoned and exiled from Cyprus (1931-1932) by the British authorities.
In addition to his four volumes on the Adages of Cyprus Folklore, he wrote countless articles for almost every newspaper of Cyprus, he published books on folklore, poetry as well as a love story, which was produced by the Cyprus Theater. He also translated works of ancient Greek writers into modern Greek dialect. His book on the Cyprus Folklore and Animals was awarded the First Prize by the Academy of Athens in 1980. After his death in 1991, the municipality of Nicosia (capital of Cyprus) dedicated a public park in his name, in the center of which there is a statue with his bust.
Xioutas was a very plain and friendly person who
could engage in conversation for hours with University professors as well
as uneducated peasants and fishermen, with rich and poor, with young and
old. This is how he was able to collect most of the material for his books,
in addition of course to his extensive literary research. He spent 55
years collecting the material for the four Adage and Folklore books. He
traveled many times in very corner of the island, in the mountains, valleys
and seaports, in villages and towns, all the time talking to people, living
with them, and fishing and hunting with them. He himself was an avid hunter,
fisherman and diver.
Xioutas
believed the adages of folklore represented the laws of life and were
a gift from God to Man from time immemorial. He believed that the adages
and the moral they contained represent the links in the chain that lead
Cyprus back to its roots and its connections with Hellenism, Christianity
and the Byzantium. Adages not only show the continuation of Cyprus tradition
and customs for over 3,000 years but also show the changes through the
years and the effects of coming into contact with other peoples and cultures
over this time.
Bibliography
of Cyprus Folklore:
Animals and the Cyprus Folklore (1978: published
by the Archbishop Markarios III Foundation)
Animals and the Cyprus Folklore: Addendum (1978: published by the
Archbishop Markarios III Foundation)
Adages in the Folklore of the Cyprus People: Volume I (1984: published
by the Archbishop Markarios III Foundation)
Adages in the Folklore of the Cyprus People: Volume II (1985: published
by the Archbishop Markarios III Foundation)
Adages in the Folklore of the Cyprus People: Volume III (1985:
published by the Archbishop Markarios III Foundation)