He is the leading satirical poet of Modern Greek literature. He was born in Ermoupolis of Syros on February 1, 1853 and was the son of Kytherios, and his mother was from Chios. His family was wealthy. His father wanted to make him a priest. At some point his family went bankrupt and his father sent him to work for an uncle's grain merchant in Taiyani, Russia. He quickly gave up and came to Athens to enroll in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Athens. The financial problems he faced prevented him from getting his degree. His involvement with literature began around 1872. He began giving lessons and writing journalism.
Marriage, maturity and his relationship with the people
In 1881 he married Maria Konstantinidou and they had five children. His wife was a model of devotion as his companion, protector and muse. Their house in the centre of Athens was one of the most famous literary salons. At meetings organized in the house, Kostis Palamas, Yannis Polemis, Giorgos Drosinis, Aristomenes Proveleggios, Babis Anninos, Zacharias Papantoniou, Miltiadis Malakasis, etc. He published the magazine «Romios» for the first time on 2 April 1883, a satirical monthly publication. Romios was published until 1918, shortly before Souris« death, for 36 years and 8 months, in a total of 1,444 issues.
Through his writings he criticized the evils of his time, while commenting on everyone, from the people to the kings. He was even persecuted by Queen Olga for the satirical verses he wrote about her. No one can deny that Souris embraced the people with his work, since he was referring to the everyday life and problems of ordinary people. The language he used was mainly demotic, not missing the use of katharevousa, where he thought. He wrote plays such as «Periphery», «Heirafetesis» and «He has no qualifications» and translated Aristophanes« »Nefelles" into modern Greek.
The identification
In 1886 he was decorated by Charilaos Trikoupis and in 1906 he was nominated by the Greek Parliament for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1915 he was awarded the Royal Medal of Letters and Arts. He died on 26 August 1919 in Faliro.
