Nikos Egonopoulos ( el, Νίκος Εγγονόπουλος; October 21, 1907 – October 31, 1985) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. He is one of the most important members of "

Generation of the '30s The Generation of the '30s () was a group of Greek writers, poets, artists, intellectuals, critics, and scholars who made their debut in the 1930s and introduced modernism in Greek art and literature. The Generation of the '30s is also cited as a so ...

",Eleni Kefala
''Peripheral (Post) Modernity''
Peter Lang, 2007, p. 160. as well as a major representative of the

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

movement in Greece. His work as a writer also includes critique and essays.

Biography

Nikos Egonopoulos was born in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 1907 and was the second son of Panaghiotis and Errietti (Henrietta) Egonopoulos. During the summer of 1914, when Egonopoulos' family went on a trip to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, the family were obliged to settle there, due to the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1923, he was enrolled in a

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

in Paris, where he studied for a period of four years. After his return to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, he served as a private in the 1st Infantry Regiment. Later on, he worked as a

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

in a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and as a secretary at the University of Athens. In 1930 Egonopoulos was employed as a

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

er in the Urban Planning Department of the Greek Ministry of Public Works. In 1932 he joined the

Athens School of Fine Arts The Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA; el, Ανωτάτη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών, ΑΣΚΤ, literally: Highest School of Fine Arts), is Greece's premier Art school whose main objective is to develop the artistic talents of its students ...

, where he studied under the supervision of

Konstantinos Parthenis Konstantinos Parthenis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Παρθένης; 10 May 1878 – 25 July 1967) was a distinguished Greek-Egyptian painter, born in Alexandria. Parthenis broke with the Greek academic tradition of the 19th century and int ...

. He also attended classes at the art studio of Photios Kontoglou. During that time he met important artists, the poet

Andreas Embirikos Andreas Embirikos ( el, Ανδρέας Εμπειρίκος; September 2, 1901 in Brăila – August 3, 1975 in Kifissia, Attica) was a Greek surrealist poet and one of the first Greek psychoanalysts. Life Embirikos was born in Brăila, R ...

and painters such as

Yannis Tsarouchis Yannis Tsarouchis ( el, Γιάννης Τσαρούχης; 13 January 1910 – 20 July 1989) was a Greek modernist painter and set designer who achieved international fame, and was "known in particular for his homoerotic subjects," including so ...

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

and

Yannis Moralis Yiannis Moralis ( el, Γιάννης Μόραλης; also transliterated Yannis Moralis or Giannis Moralis; 23 April 1916 – 20 December 2009) was an important Greek visual artist and part of the so-called "Generation of the '30s". Life B ...

. His first paintings, mostly

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

s on paper depicting old houses, were presented at an ''Art of Modern Greek Tradition'' exhibition, organised in January 1938. Soon after the exhibition, he published translations of poems by

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

, which were published in February. A few months later, his first collection of poems (''Do Not Distract the Driver'') was published, followed by a second one (''The Clavicembalos of Silence'') the next year. Overall he is considered one of the finest surrealist poets of Greece. His first individual exhibition was held in 1939. Three years later, he finished his most popular long poem ''Bolivar, a Greek Poem'', inspired by the revolutionary leader

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

and published in 1944. The poem was also released in the form of a song, in 1968, with music composed by Nikos Mamangakis. He died of a heart attack in 1985 in Athens.

Notes

External links

Egonopoulos, official sitePoetry International Web
- Article on Egonopoulos, by Haris Vlavianos. Also contains link to the full text of ''Bolivar''.
Artist's works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egonopoulos, Nikos 1907 births 1985 deaths Artists from Athens National Technical University of Athens faculty Greek surrealist writers Modern Greek poets Generation of the '30s Greek surrealist artists Surrealist poets Arvanites 20th-century Greek poets 20th-century Greek painters Writers from Athens

Biography

See also

Notes

External links