Gerald Durrell - Corfu

Corfu

Mrs Durrell moved with her three younger children (Leslie, Margaret, nicknamed Margo, and Gerald) to the Greek island of Corfu in 1935, following her oldest son Lawrence who had already moved there with his wife. It was on Corfu where Durrell began to collect and keep the local fauna as his pets. The family lived on Corfu until 1939. This interval was later the basis of the book My Family and Other Animals and its successors, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods, plus a few short stories like "My Donkey Sally". Durrell was home-schooled during this time by various family friends and private tutors, mostly friends of his eldest brother Lawrence (later a famous novelist). One of Durrell's tutor's friends, the Greek doctor, scientist, poet and philosopher Theodore Stephanides, became Durrell's greatest friend and mentor, and his ideas left a lasting impression on the young naturalist. Together, they examined Corfu fauna, which Durrell housed in everything from test tubes to bathtubs. Another major influence during these formative years, according to Durrell, was the writing of French naturalist Jean Henri Fabre.