The scholar and translator Lefcadio Hearn passed away on 24/9/1904.  Born on the Greek island of Lefkas (Lefkada) of a Greek mother and an Irish father, he spent the last 14 years of his life in Japan writing about the country and its people.  His work is a bridge of understanding between Japan and the West.

100 χρόνια πριν, στις 26 Σεπτεμβρίου του 1904, πεθαίνει στην Ιαπωνία ο γεννημένος στην Ελλάδα, Λευκάδιος Χέρν ή Γιακούμο Κοϊζούμι (το όνομα που υιοθέτησε στην Ιαπωνία). "...Γεννήθηκε στην Λευκάδα το 1850 από Ελληνίδα μητέρα και πατέρα Ιρλανδό. Στα βιβλία του - που θεωρούνται ακόμη και σήμερα η πιο ενδιαφέρουσα προσέγγιση της Ιαπωνικής κοινωνίας από ένα δυτικό συγγραφέα ή όπως χαρακτηριστικά έγραφε ο Στέφαν Τσβάιχ: "κάτι τελείως μοναδικό στον κόσμο της Τέχνης, τα έργα ενός Δυτικού γραμμένα από άνθρωπο της Ανατολής" - θα περιγράψει με αγάπη και ταπεινότητα τον πολιτισμό αυτής της χώρας, τις παραδόσεις και τις αξίες της"

(Το σχόλιο για το έργο του Χέρν είναι από το οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου "Λευκάδιου Χέρν Κείμενα από την Ιαπωνία", εισαγωγή και μετάφραση Σωτήρη Χαλκιά, εκδόσεις Ίνδικτος, 1997).

The morning of June 27, 1850, Patricio Lefcadio Hearn was born on the island of Lefcada whose citizens are called Lefcadio. His Mother Rosa gave her son an Irish name, "Patricio," and the name "Lefcadio," a citizen of Lefcas Island.
Lefcadio's Mother was the exceptionally beautiful Rosa Antonia Kassimati (1823-1882) of noble Cerigate lineage through her Father, Anthony Kassimati. Irishman Surgeon Charles Bush Hearn (1818-1866) was an officer on the British Imperial Army Medical Staff at the Fort Santa Maura Military Post on Lefcas, Island.
In Ireland, Lefcadio was "Patrick Hearn." In the U.S., at the age of 19, Patrick decided to be forever known as "Lafcadio Hearn. At the age of eleven days, July 8, 1850, Lefcadio was baptized in the Greek Orthodox parish church of Agia Paraskevi. Lefcadio's body was immersed three times, face turned toward the east while the priest chanted "...in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost..." Rosa made 3 tiny cuts in the calf of each leg. This represented the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Rosa had Lefcadio's ears pierced for gold earrings. The following month, August 17, 1850, her first son, year-old George Hearn, died. Rosa was devastated. She poured her love on Lefcadio, carrying him everywhere she went.
Every day there was new pleasures and new wonders on Lefcas Island to enchant Lefcadio. At bedtime, Rosa told stories to Lefcadio that made him tingle from head to foot with pleasure. When the pleasure became too great, Rosa sang a little song that brought sleep.
In July, 1852, Lefcadio and his Mother sailed to Liverpool, England, via Malta. They crossed the Irish Sea to Dublin, Ireland, to live in Dublin with Lefcadio's relatives. Lefcadio never returned to Lefcas.
On these islands of old tragedies and romance, the child, Lefcadio, was born into a life always to be shadowed by tragedy and romance to an extent almost fantastic in our modern workaday world.

David Baldwin
author of Lafcadio Hearn Virtual Diary
Osaka