Page 110 - GREC14N_SMI_04
P. 110

AS A         As a “citizen of the world” Lawrence   at the two rooms of the known today “White
         “CITI ZEN OF          George Durrell (1912-1990) was not a simple   House” with the Athinaios family, who are the
                                                                 owners of the house until today, and later the
                               traveller. Each of his journeys was a non-stop
         ΤΗΈ WORLD”            effort to discover the ideal place. The place   British novelist payed to build one extra floor
                               which would take in his heart -even for a
                                                                 with windows open to the picturesque bay,
        while- the position of his new homeland. As it happened for many years with   in order to write something with a marine
        Corfu and Rhodes, two islands that offered peace and also uplift of spirit, both   theme. “In other countries you may discover
        to him and to his brother Gerald, inspiring him to depict elegantly in his books   landscapes, traditions, customs. Greece
        the experience of Greek hospitality.                     has something harder to offer you – the
        As the biggest landmark in his life, Greece gave him the opportunity to escape   discovery of yourself”, he characteristically
        from the “fossilized” English culture. So, in 1935 he moves with his first wife   says in his travel book “Prospero’s Cell, a
        Nancy Meyers, his mother, brothers and sisters in Kontokali, Corfu. But soon   guide to the landscape and manners of the
        he chooses to leave this place too and move to Kalami, a little village on the   island of Corcyra” for “that exceptional
        northeastern coast of the island, at the famous White House, a fisherman’s   little island of the Ionian Sea” which soon
        hut, and live there, far from every luxury. At first Lawrence and Nancy stayed   became his “home”. Today, the most famous
                                                                 house in Corfu, which hosted and inspired
                                                                 the Durrells family, sky-rocketing the fame
                                                                 of the island all over the world, is open for
                                                                 the public as a hotel, maintaining its initial
                                                                 finesse through personal items that belonged
                                                                 to the Durrells.
                                                                 When World War II starts, Durrell has
                                                                 to flee with all his family with a caique to
                                                                 Crete and from there to Egypt, where he
                                                                 serves at the Press Office of the British
                                                                 Administration, without ever overcoming
                                                                 his sudden loss of Greece. Soon there
                                                                 comes the time for his return, this time to
                                                                 a different island, Rhodes, where he was
                                                                 transferred as information officer, in May
                                                                 1945, when the island was liberated of the
                                                                 Italians. During his stay in Rhodes, which
                                                                 lasted almost 2 years, Durrell was settled
                                                                 in the small house of the guard of the
                                                                 old Ottoman cemetery, since it was right
                                                                 opposite from the building used by the  Special thanks to the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and particularly to Mrs. Lee Durrell for the rare photos of the Durrell’s personal archive.
                                                                 British Administration and today houses
                                                                 the Casino Rodos. There he lived with Eve
                                                                 Cohen. As Titsa Pipinou writes in her book
                                                                 “Tea with Durrell”: “Villa Cleobulus was a
                                                                 tiny house at the edge of the old Egyptian
                                                                 cemetery. In fact it was a beautiful house
                                                                 surrounded by laurel roses, bougainvilleas
                                                                 and flowers, just two steps from the famous
                                                                 hotel Albergo delle Rose and five steps from
                                                                 all the other big edifices”. Today in the
                                                                 building is housed the Stegi of Literature
                                                                 and Arts of the Dodecanese.



                                                                 From top: The Durrell family
                                                                 in Corfu. The interior of the
                                                                 White House. Από πάνω:
                                                                 H οικογένεια Ντάρελ στην
                                                                 Κέρκυρα. Το εσωτερικό του
                                                                 White House.
        110   GREC14N   2019
   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115