Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo)
1850－1904

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) was born on 27^th June 1850, on Lefkada, an island in western Greece. His father Charles, an Irishman, was a military surgeon. His mother Rosa was from Greek island of Kithira. As Ireland was not an independent nation at the time, Hearn had British nationality.

He was taken to Ireland at the age of two, and later received a Catholic education in Britain and France. However, he questioned the teaching he received. At the age of sixteen, he lost the sight in his left eye in a playground accident. At the age of nineteen, his great-aunt, Sarah Brenane, in whose care he had been placed, was declared bankrupt, and, alone he moved to the USA. After a period of living in extreme poverty, he found employment as a journalist in Cincinnati, and his literary talents were recognised. He later lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, and on Martinique, an island in the Caribbean. He was fascinated by the cultural diversity he found, and continued his reporting and writing activities with enthusiasm. While living in New Orleans, he encountered Japanese culture at an exposition held in the city. In New York, he read the English translation of the Kojiki, and resolved to visit Japan. He arrived in Japan in April 1890.

In August of the same year, he found employment as an English teacher at Shimane Prefectural Common Middle School, in Matsue. He subsequently worked at the Fifth Higher Middle School in Kumamoto, and at the Kobe Chronicle, before taking up a position as lecturer of English literature at the College of Letters, Imperial University (Tokyo) in September 1896. He was discharged from the university in 1903, and replaced by Natsume Soseki. He then went to teach at Waseda University.

During this time, in 1896, he married Koizumi Setsu, the daughter of a Matsue samurai, and became a naturalized Japanese citizen. He was blessed with three sons and a daughter. As a writer, he produced around thirty works, which were mainly translation, travelogue, and retellings of folk tales.

He died from a heart attack on 26^th September 1904, at the age of fifty-four.

(Text from Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum)

ラフカディオ・ハーン（小泉八雲）
1850－1904

パトリック・ラフカディオ・ハーン（小泉八雲）は、1850年6月27日にギリシャ西部のレフカダ島で生まれました。父チャールズはアイルランド出身の軍医、母ローザは、ギリシャ・レフカダ島の出身です。アイルランドは当時まだ独立国ではなかったため、ハーンはイギリス国籍を保有していました。

２歳の時にアイルランドに移り、その後イギリスとフランスでカトリックの教育を受けますが、それに疑念を抱きます。16歳の時、遊戯中に左目を失明。さらに、両親に代わって八雲を養育した大叔母サラ・ブレナンが破産したことから、19歳で単身アメリカへ渡ります。赤貧の生活を体験した後、シンシナティでジャーナリストとしての文筆が認められるようになります。その後、ルイジアナ州ニューオーリンズ、さらにカリブ海のマルティニーク島へ移り住み、文化の多様性に魅了されつつ、旺盛な取材、執筆活動を続けました。ニューオーリンズ時代に万博で出会った日本文化、ニューヨークで読んだ英訳『古事記』などの影響で来日を決意し、1890年4月に日本の土を踏みます。

同年８月には、松江にある島根県尋常中学校に赴任し英語教師に。さらに熊本第五高等中学校、神戸クロニクル社の勤務を経て、1896年9月から帝国大学文化大学講師として英文学を講じます。1903年には帝大を解雇され、後任を夏目漱石に譲り、さらに早稲田大学で教鞭をとります。

この間、1896年には松江の士族の娘、小泉セツと正式に結婚し、日本に帰化。三男一女に恵まれます。著作家としては、翻訳・紀行文・再話文学のジャンルを中心に生涯で約30の著作を遺しました。

1904年9月26日、心臓発作で54歳の生涯を閉じます。

（テキスト：小泉八雲記念館）