Call Number:

C1473

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 2 boxes
• 0.6 linear feet

Language:

French

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Dēmētrēs A. Charisiadēs Correspondence with Leon Uris, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1958-1970 (inclusive)

Creator:

Charisiadēs, D. A. (Dēmētrēs A.) (1911-1993)

Form:

Clippings--20th century. and Correspondence -- 20th century

Abstract:

Correspondence between Greek photographer Dēmētrēs A. Charisiadēs (1911-1993) and American novelist Leon Uris (1924-2003) from 1958-1970, regarding the publication of their collaboration, Exodus Revisited (1960), a book documenting Israel's early statehood, as well as correspondence pertaining to personal and financial matters. Also includes correspondence between Charisiadēs and various European publishers, distributors, and literary agencies concerning several foreign language editions published in the early 1960s, letters of thanks for gifted copies of the book, accounting notes and receipts pertaining to Charisiadēs's royalties, along with press clippings, book reviews, and articles about Exodus Revisited and related photography exhibitions.

Dēmētrēs A. Charisiadēs (1911-1993) was born in Kavala, Greece. After studying chemistry as a young man in Lausanne, Switzerland, he developed an interest in photography from foreign periodicals and books. He began working as a photographer documenting the lives of soldiers while serving as a reserve officer on the Albanian front during WWII. Afterwards he was transferred to Athens, where he photographed Greek life during the Axis Occupation, the Dekemvriana clashes in Athens in 1944-1945, and the Greek Civil War in the late 1940s as a European press correspondent. After liberation, foreign relief agencies and the Ministry of Reconstruction commissioned Charisiadēs to document the arrival and distribution of American aid, public works projects, and post-war economic recovery in Greece. Charisiadēs was also active in commercial photography, where he focused on industry, architecture, and advertising, both running the photographic agency "D. A. Harissiadis" in partnership with Dionysis Tamaressis from 1956-1985 and working as a photographer for the National Theatre of Greece. Always interested in documenting everyday life and culture in small towns and cities, Charisiadēs continued to produce and exhibit work throughout his life, including his photographs of 1950s Israel that appeared in Exodus Revisited.

The collection primarily consists of correspondence between the Greek photographer, Dēmētrēs A. Charisiadēs, and Leon Uris (1924-2003), an American novelist known for his bestselling books, Exodus (1958) and Trinity (1976), among many other works of historical fiction, as well as his screenplay for the 1957 Western, Gunfight at the OK Corral. Correspondence pertains to the publication of Exodus Revisited (1960), a collaborative work with photographs by Charisiadēs and text by Uris, documenting the history of the state of Israel. While the majority of correspondence regards the publication of Exodus Revisited in several languages, financial matters, related exhibitions, and Uris's Los Angeles bookstore project, letters also include detailed discussions of both men's personal lives, including their various marriages and divorces, travels, children, and other creative works.

Charisiadēs's correspondence with various European publishers, distributors, and literary agencies, such as A.P. Watt & Son, Bantam Books, Doubleday and Company, Inc., and Kindler Verlag, is also included, regarding a variety of foreign language editions of Exodus Revisited published throughout the early 1960s. Present are a signed contract between Charisiadēs - Uris and Doubleday, as well as letters of thanks for gifted copies of the book from various Greek, Israeli, and American writers and leaders, and receipts and other financial notations regarding royalties, kept by Charisiadēs's literary agent, Willis Kingsley Wing, of Collins-Knowlton-Wing, Inc.

Additionally included are American, Greek, and other international press clippings concerning Exodus Revisited and related exhibitions, book reviews, and articles, as well as a few photographs and one negative showing an exhibition of Charisiadēs's photographs of Israel at the University of California, Los Angeles.

While the vast majority of correspondence and other materials are in English, some press clippings and correspondence with parties other than Leon Uris are in Greek or French.

Materials are grouped by format.