GRASSET DE SAINT-SAUVEUR, André

André Grasset de Saint-Sauveur lived in Corfu for several years (1781-1798), while the islands was under French rule, and visited the rest of the Ionian islands during that time. A conscientious French state functionary, De Saint-Sauveur published a three-volume work on the islands in 1800, accompanied by an Atlas with illustrations. De Saint-Sauveur examines the politics, society and economics of the Ionian islands in the last years of Venetian rule with insight, precision and sensitivity.

His work is completed by delineations of extreme topographic precision and technical perfection. It is probable that Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur used André Grasset de Saint- Sauveur's drawings of human types, for his own edition (1796) of thirty plates showing costumes from the Ionian islands. In his descriptions, André Grasset de Saint Sauveur deals extensively with safe anchorages of the islands, in a manner that shows that he sailed and examined those spots himself. At the same time, he manages to convey all the charm of insular life, as he gives detailed descriptions of everyday practices, dealing with diet as well as the diverse microeconomic activities which enabled inhabitants to get by. André Grasset de Saint Sauveur's text served as a guide to the Ionian islands during the 19th century and beyond.

Written by Ioli Vingopoulou

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