1771, M. (Pierre Augustin) Guys, Voyage Litteraire de la Grece, Tome I, Philhellenism, First Edition

M. Guys (Pierre-Augustin)

Pierre-Augustin Guys (1721 – 1799) was a Marseille merchant, traveler and writer. After excellent studies with the Oratorians of Marseille, he left for Constantinople in 1740 as manager of the trading house of his uncles Rémusat. He traveled to several countries: Turkey, Bulgaria, Syria and Greece. Back in Marseille, he married in 1752 Anne Magy, from a family of merchants. He was appointed to the Academy of Marseille on 26 July 1752, where he was the permanent secretary from 1782 to 1784. In 1797 he was appointed to direct public education in Zante, which was then occupied by French troops. He died there on 18 August 1799.

About the book: Guys’ literary and antiquarian studies led him to the conclusion that the modern Greeks were direct descendants of the ancients, and his book is full of comparisons between the ancient and modern Greeks on every conceivable subject. This successful and popular book, written as a series of letters,  played an important part in developing philhellenic sentiments in France.