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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