Emmanuel Roïdes (1836-1904) was born into a wealthy family on the Greek island of Syros, but spent much of his childhood and early life in
Europe. In 1841, his family moved to Genoa, where he lived through the revolution of 1848. He returned to Syros in 1849 and completed his schooling there, before leaving once again to pursue his university studies in history, literature and philosophy first in Germany and later in Romania. From 1864, he lived permanently in Athens. Losing his family fortune and impoverished toward the end of his life, he found work as a librarian in the National Library. Influential as a critic, he was also a translator and short-story writer, but is best known for his one novel, Pope Joan.
