About Lafcadio Hearn

One of our buildings is located on Lafcadio Hearn Street, named after Lafcadio Hearn to commemorate his legacy. This is the same street where Lafcadio Hearn was born back in 1850.
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (27 June 1850 – 26 September 1904), known also by the Japanese name Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲), was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. Hearn was born and named after the island of Lefkada, on 27 June 1850. He was the son of Surgeon-Major Charles Bush Hearn (of County Offaly, Ireland) and Rosa Antoniou Kassimatis, a Greek woman of noble Kytheran lineage through her father, Anthony Kassimatis. His father was stationed in Lefkada during the British occupation of the islands, where he was the highest-ranking surgeon in his regiment.
The first museum in Europe for Lafcadio Hearn, was inaugurated in Lefkada on July 4, 2014, as Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center. It contains early editions, rare books and Japanese collectibles. The visitors, through photos, texts and exhibits, can wander in the significant events of Lafcadio Hearn’s life, but also in the civilizations of Europe, America and Japan of late 18th and early 19th centuries through the open mind of his lectures, writings and tales. The municipalities of Kumamoto, Matsue, Shinjuku, Yaizu, Toyama University, Koizumi family and other people from Japan and Greece contributed to the establishment of Lafcadio Hearn Historical Center.