Lefcadios Hearn. (Yakumo Koizumi). 1850-1904

Author: Ioannis Γ Kasimatis
John George Kasimatis
Author's Tel., Athens: 210 90 10 320

When Published: 2000

Language: Greek

Publisher:

ΜAΥΡΙΔΗΣ
Μεγ. Aλεξάνδρου & Γιατράκου 19
Aθήνα. 104 36
Tηλ: 210 52 42 182, Fax: 210 52 34 713

Available: From the Publisher, &

Bookshop at Kondolianika, Kythera
Email, here

Description: 221 page paperback book

ISBN: 960-347-074-0

Brief biographical background

Hearn was born in Lefkada (the origin of his middle name), one of the Greek Ionian Islands. He was the son of Surgeon-major Charles Hearn (of King's County, Ireland) and Rosa Antonia Kassimati, who had been born on Kythera.

From age 2 he moved to Ireland, and at age 19 he was sent to live in the United States of America, where he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He entered journalism, and after stints in New Orleans and the West Indies, in 1890 Hearn went to Japan with a commission as a newspaper correspondent.

There he gained a teaching position at the Shimane Prefectural Common Middle School and Normal School in Matsue, a town in western Japan on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Most Japanese identify Hearn with Matsue, as it was here that his image of Japan was molded. Today, The Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum, and Lafcadio Hearn's Old Residence are still two of Matsue's most popular tourist attractions.

During his 15-month stay in Matsue, Hearn married Setsu Koizumi, the daughter of a local samurai family, and became a naturalized Japanese, taking the name Yakumo Koizumi.

The remainder of Hearn's biography is related in depth in Kasimatis' book.


In 2008 Toki Koizumi, grandson of Lafcadio Hearn, and his wife, Hisako, visited Kythera, were hosted at the home of Ioannis Γ Kasimatis, and placed various gifts in homage on the grave of Rosa Antonia Kassimati.