Quadrivio. Greek publication of the daily newspaper Tiberis dedicated to Italian-Greek cooperation. Athens, Autumn 1941 - 23 August 1942. Year 1, nos. 1-13 20 September 1942 to 25 April 1943; Year 2, nos. 1-16. Editor Telessio Interlanti, Editorial secretary: I.S. Kourounis. On the masthead there is always an image of the goddess Athena. From the issue of 1stJanuary 1942 on, the following phrase was added permanently to the fifth page: “Read and disseminate Quadrivio on which Greek and Italian writers collaborate. Quadrivio is a newspaper of the New Order.” Every week, however, there were changes in its periodicity, 6-page, 5-column, dimensions 34x23 cm. Price of issue: 0.50 lire, 10 drachmas initially, with later changes in the price of a copy. There was no provision for subscribers and no information was given about where it was printed.

Quadrivio was the Greek-language edition of the Italian newspaper Tiberis. It reported on literature and history, but frequently included texts with political content. Its aim was to promote Italian-Greek collaboration and to highlight what these two cultures have in common. Most literary articles contain something of Greek-Italian interest. Typical examples are: “Italian theatre in modern Greece.” D’Annunzio in Athens”, “The first Greek printing press in Venice”, “Solomos and Italy”,“Santarosa and the Greeks”, with two pages dedicated to Kostis Palamas after his death. In every issue Italian grammar lessons were published, and in the last issues letters from readers were also published, most with praise for Italian culture. There were also texts critical of England, the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union and racist references to Jews and people ofcolour.

The publication of 20th September 1942 was exclusively concerned with the visit of Mussolini to Athens. There was a column entitled “The ABC of the war” on the last page of every issue, with information about the Italian side of military developments. It should likewise be noted that Quadrivio also contained a wealth of photographs. Nor was there any lack of advertisements for Italian companies in its pages.

Among its contributors were Greek scholars including: G. Xenopoulos, M. Argyropoulos, Sylvios, Kl. Paraschos, N. Poriotis, Kostas Kairophyllas, Fotos Kontoglou, N. Laskaris, Fotos Giofyllis, A.M. Lidorikis, the journalist N. Giokarinis, and Professor M. Tombros. On the Italian side, we encounter the names of F. Pontani, G. Lucarelli and A. Aniante.

Quadrivio was part of the propaganda machinery of the Italian occupation forces in Greece. After the surrender of the Italians in World War II, the publication ceased. We do not know what impact it had on the Greek population. What we do know is that it circulated nationwide in Greece. After Liberation, the Greek intellectuals who wrote articles in Quadrivio were strongly criticized for this particular activity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alexandra K. Boufea, The Literary Journals of the Occupation, Sokolis, Athes, 2006• Angela Kastrinaki, Literature in the tumultuous decade 1940-1950, Polis, Athens, 2005 (both in Greek)

LIBRARY/ARCHIVE: The Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive (ELIA)

Vasilis Moschos