Mpampis Anninos

Charalambos or Babis Anninos (Argostoli 1852 - Athens 1934) was a journalist, poet, and playwright. He was born and raised in Argostoli, Kefalonia, where he initially worked as a clerk at the customs office until 1870, when he relocated to Athens to work as an assistant secretary at the Athens Prosecutor's Office and to pursue literature. In the same year, he was awarded an honorable mention at the Voutsinaio competition for his first poetry collection "Lykaftes." Later, he secured a position as an employee at the Consulate of Rome and Naples. Eventually, he returned permanently to Athens and decided to actively engage in journalism in 1878. From then on, he wrote for many newspapers ("Neologos of Athens," "Efimerida") and collaborated with periodicals (the literary magazine Parnassos, Asmodaios, Monthly Illustrated Iris) of the time, becoming known under various pseudonyms: Abbacoum, Herodes Atticus, Strepsiades, Rakosyllektis, Tenekes, among others. He was one of the founders and permanent editors of the newspaper "To Asty" and editor-in-chief of "Kathimerini." Simultaneously, he engaged in poetry, prose, translation, historiography, and essays, becoming widely known for his humorous theatrical works. Indicative of his success is that his one-act play "Servant Wanted" was chosen for the premiere of the Royal Theatre in 1901. Additionally, thanks to his comedic flair and witty wordplay, he excelled in writing revue: the Panathenaia (1907) (music by Th. Sakellaridis), in collaboration with Georgios Tsokopoulos, was so successful that it led the authors to create the New Panathenaia and to a permanent collaboration (later adding Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos to the team). A founding member of the Academy of Athens, co-founder of the Historical and Ethnological Society, president of the Society of Greek Dramatic Authors, and author of popular theatrical works, the prolific Anninos was honored for his contribution to the field of letters with awards and distinctions: the Order of the Redeemer (1889), the Golden Award of Letters and Arts (1914), and the Academy of Athens Award (1925).