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Odysseas Elytis ( el, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης ,
pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...
of Odysseas Alepoudellis, el, Οδυσσέας Αλεπουδέλλης; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as the definitive exponent of romantic
modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
in Greece and the world. He is one of the most praised poets of the second half of the twentieth century, with his ''Axion Esti'' "regarded as a monument of contemporary poetry". In 1979, he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
.


Biography

Descendant of the Alepoudelis, whose name going back was Alepos and even further back connected to the revolutionary Lemonis in Lesbos. Panayiotis Alepoudelis together with his younger brother Thrasyboulos, both born in the village Kalamiaris of Panagiouthas of Lesbos established the industries of their soap manufacturing and olive oil production in
Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Gree ...
Crete in 1895. In 1897 Panagyiotis married Maria E Vrana 1880-1960 from the village Papados of Geras, Lesbos. From this union and as the last of six siblings Odysseas was born in the early hours of 2 November 1911. He is pictured on the far left wearinga sailor's uniform in the photo of his family.The Alepoudelis later moved to Athens, where his father re-situated the soap factory in Piraeus. In 1918 his older sister and first born Myrsene (1898-1918) died in the Spanish influenza. While on summer holidays from their Athens home as guests on the island of Spetses in the Haramis home in the St Nicolaos neighbourhood his own father also died in the summer of 1925 from pneumonia. Later the poet graduated from high school and successfully passed the difficult entrance exams to law school at
University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...
. Elytis had initial aspirations to become a lawyer but did not sit for his final examinations and did not get his legal qualification. He also had expressed aspirations to become a painter in the manner of the surrealists but his family quickly thwarted this idea.Odysseus Elytis – Biographical
nobelprize.org
In 1935 Elytis published his first poem in the journal ''New Letters'' (''Νέα Γράμματα'') at the prompting of such friends as
George Seferis Giorgos or George Seferis (; gr, Γιώργος Σεφέρης ), the pen name of Georgios Seferiades (Γεώργιος Σεφεριάδης; March 13 – September 20, 1971), was a Greek poet and diplomat. He was one of the most important G ...
. In the same year he also became a lifelong friend of writer and psychoanalyst Andreas Embiricos, who allowed him to have access to his vast library of books. In 1977 two years after the death of his friend Elytis wrote a tribute book to Embiricos from within the commonalities that founded their ideas aptly titled "Reference to Andreas Embiricos" and originally published by Tram publishers Thessaloniki. His entry to the magazine "New Letters" in 1935 was in November which was the 11th issue and with his pseudonym Elytis established therein. With a distinctively earthy and original form in his expression Elytis assisted to inaugurate a new era in Greek poetry and its subsequent reform after the Second World War. From 1969 to 1972, under the
Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...
, Elytis exiled himself to Paris after he was offered money from the junta which he refused by avoiding it and leaving the country. In Paris he lived with the English philologist lyricist and musicologist
Marianina Kriezi ''Marianina'' is a genus of sea slugs, nudibranchs, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs in the family Tritoniidae Tritoniidae is a taxonomic family of nudibranchs in the suborder Cladobranchia, shell-less marine gastropod molluscs.Mollusca ...
1947-2022, who subsequently produced and hosted the legendary children's radio broadcast "Here Lilliput Land". Kriezi was extraordinary having published a book of poems at the age of fourteen. There is speculation that Kriezi and Elytis were secretly married in Paris but with their return to Greece their French marriage bore invalidity and they separated, never divorcing. When Elytis died however he was buried wearing the silver wedding band that had the name "Marianina" engraved inside it. The silver ring is on the cover of "Analogies of Light" within a picture that shows only the author's hands writing inside a book. Ivar Ivask also noted the presence of the photo of Kriezi muse inside a silver frame across from the photo of his motherin the home of Elytis when editing the aforementioned book. On the day he died three photographs of women that he had loved and influenced him were in his small apartment. In his bedroom the black and white photo of his mother was by his left bedside table and the photo of Kriezi taken in Paris on the table facing that. In the living room on the top of a dresser drawer was the photo of the enigmatic yet pretty Anita Mozas who had a yellow carnation and a red rose flower adorning her chignon in a semi profile colour picture. There is speculation that Anita Mozas orn 1957 Toronto Ontario Canada to Constantine and Paraskevihad been to Elytis what Dora Maar had been to Picasso.And this would mean that she understood him better than others.


The war

In 1937 he served his military requirements. As an army cadet, he joined the National Military School in
Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
. He assisted Frederica of Hanover off the train and on to Greek soil personally when she arrived from Germany to marry hereditary Prince Paul. During the war he was appointed Second Lieutenant, placed initially at the 1st Army Corps Headquarters, then transferred to the 24th Regiment, on the first-line of the battlefields. Elytis was sporadically publishing poetry and essays after his initial foray into the literary world. He was a member of the Association of Greek Art Critics, AICA-Hellas,
International Association of Art Critics The International Association of Art Critics (''Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art'', ''AICA'') was founded in 1950 to revitalize critical discourse, which suffered under Fascism during World War II. Affiliated with UNESCO AICA was ad ...
.


Programme director for ERT

He was twice Programme Director of the Greek National Radio Foundation (1945–46 and 1953–54), Member of the
Greek National Theatre The National Theatre of Greece () is based in Athens, Greece. History The first permanent theatre in modern Greece had been the Boukoura Theatre from 1840, but it had difficulty in managing its operation and stood empty for long periods of ...
's Administrative Council, President of the Administrative Council of the Greek Radio and Television as well as Member of the Consultative Committee of the Greek National Tourists' Organisation on the ''
Athens Festival Athens – Epidaurus Festival is an annual arts festival that takes place in Athens and Epidaurus, from May to October. It is one of the most famous festivals in Greece. The festival includes musical, theatrical and other cultural events. History ...
''. In 1960 he was awarded the First State Poetry Prize, in 1965 the Order of the Phoenix and in 1975 he was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa in the Faculty of Philosophy at
Thessaloniki University Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
and received the Honorary Citizenship of the Town of
Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University o ...
.


Travels

In 1948–1952 and 1969–1972 he lived in Paris. There, he audited philology and literature seminars at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
and was well received by the pioneers of the world's
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
( Reverdy, Breton, Tzara,
Ungaretti Giuseppe Ungaretti (; 8 February 1888 – 2 June 1970) was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic, academic, and recipient of the inaugural 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. A leading representative of the experi ...
,
Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primar ...
,
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, Francoise Gilot,
Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
,
Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo, ...
) as
Tériade Tériade is the pen name of Stratis (or Efstratios) Eleftheriades ( el, Στρατής Ελευθεριάδης; 2 May 1897 – 23 October 1983), a native of Mytilene who went to Paris in 1915 at the age of eighteen to study law, but who instead bec ...
's most respected friend. Teriade was simultaneously in Paris publishing works with all the renowned artists and philosophers (
Kostas Axelos Kostas Axelos (also spelled ''Costas Axelos''; el, Κώστας Αξελός; 26 June 1924 – 4 February 2010) was a Greek-French philosopher. Biography Axelos was born in Athens in 1924 to a doctor and a woman from an old Athenian bourgeo ...
,
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...
, Francoise Gilot, René Daumal) of the time. Elytis and Teriade had formed a strong friendship that solidified in 1939 with the publication of Elytis first book of poetry entitled "Orientations". Both Elytis and Teriade hailed from Lesbos and had a mutual love of the Greek painter Theophilos. Starting from Paris he travelled and subsequently visited Switzerland, England, Italy and Spain. In 1948 he was the representative of Greece at the ''International Meetings of Geneva'', in 1949 at the Founding Congress of the ''International Art Critics Union'' in Paris and in 1962 at the ''Incontro Romano della Cultura'' in Rome. In 1961, upon an invitation of the State Department, he traveled through the USA; and — upon similar invitations — through the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. Elytis did not like
Yevgeny Yevtushenko Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko ( rus, links=no, 1=Евге́ний Алекса́ндрович Евтуше́нко; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet. He was also a novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, ...
when they were introduced but liked Voznesensky and his poetry in 1963. He visited
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
in 1965.


Death

Odysseas Elytis had been completing plans to travel overseas when he died of a heart failure in Athens on 18 March 1996, at the age of 84. In the last twelve years of his life he lived with this companion, poetess Ioulita Iliopoulou ee Sofia Iliopoulou, daughter of Dimitrios and Demetra July 1, 1965who was 53 years his junior. Iliopoulou inherited his immovable property in real estate which consisted of four apartments and the trustee power of copyrights to his work. Elytis was survived in his bloodline by his niece Myrsene[from his oldest brother Theodoros born 1900 also received a writ of condolence from the mayor of Athens on behalf of the nation at the funeral at the First Cemetery of Athens


Poetry

Elytis' poetry has marked, through an active presence of over forty years, a broad spectrum of subject matter and stylistic touch with an emphasis on the expression of that which is rarefied and passionate. He borrowed certain elements from Ancient Greece and Byzantium but devoted himself exclusively to today's Culture of Greece, Hellenism, of which he attempted—in a certain way based on psychical and sentimental aspects—to reconstruct a modernist
mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...
for the institutions. His main endeavour was to rid people's conscience from unjustifiable remorses and to complement natural elements through ethical powers, to achieve the highest possible transparency in expression and finally, to succeed in approaching the mystery of light, ''the metaphysics of the sun'' of which he was a "worshiper" -''idolater'' by his own definition. A parallel manner concerning technique resulted in introducing the ''inner architecture'', which is evident in a great many poems of his; mainly in the phenomenal landmark work ''It Is Truly Meet'' (''Το Άξιον Εστί''). This work due to its setting to music by
Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...
as an oratorio, is a revered anthem whose verse is sung by all Greeks for all injustice, resistance and for its sheer beauty and musicality of form. Elytis' theoretical and philosophical ideas have been expressed in a series of essays under the title ''The Open Papers'' (''Ανοιχτά Χαρτιά''). Besides creating poetry he applied himself to translating poetry and theatre as well as a series of collage pictures. Translations of his poetry have been published as autonomous books, in anthologies or in periodicals in eleven languages.


Works


Poetry

* Orientations (''Προσανατολισμοί'', 1939) * Sun The First Together With Variations on A Sunbeam (''Ηλιος ο πρώτος, παραλλαγές πάνω σε μιαν αχτίδα'', 1943) * An Heroic And Funeral Chant For The Lieutenant Lost In Albania (''Άσμα ηρωικό και πένθιμο για τον χαμένο ανθυπολοχαγό της Αλβανίας'', 1962) * To Axion Esti—It Is Worthy (''Το Άξιον Εστί'', 1959) * Six Plus One Remorses For The Sky (''Έξη και μια τύψεις για τον ουρανό'', 1960) * The Light Tree And The Fourteenth Beauty (''Το φωτόδεντρο και η δέκατη τέταρτη ομορφιά'', 1972) * The Sovereign Sun (''Ο ήλιος ο ηλιάτορας'', 1971) * The Trills of Love (''Τα Ρω του Έρωτα'', 1973) * Villa Natacha {published in Thessaloniki by Tram and dedicated to E Terade 1973] * The Monogram (''Το Μονόγραμμα'', 1972) * Step-Poems (''Τα Ετεροθαλή'', 1974) * Signalbook (''Σηματολόγιον'', 1977) * Maria Nefeli (''Μαρία Νεφέλη'', 1978) * Three Poems under a Flag of Convenience (''Τρία ποιήματα με σημαία ευκαιρίας'' 1982) * Diary of an Invisible April (''Ημερολόγιο ενός αθέατου Απριλίου'', 1984)* Krinagoras (''Κριναγόρας'', 1987) * The Little Mariner (''Ο Μικρός Ναυτίλος'', 1988) * The Elegies of Oxopetra (''Τα Ελεγεία της Οξώπετρας'', 1991) * West of Sadness (''Δυτικά της λύπης'', 1995) * Eros, Eros, Eros: Selected and Last Poems (
Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...
, 1998) (translated by
Olga Broumas Olga Broumas (born 6 May 1949, Hermoupolis) is a Greek poet, resident in the United States. She has been Poet-in-Residence and Director of Creative Writing at Brandeis University since 1995. Biography Born and raised on the island of Syros, Broum ...
)


Prose, essays

* The True Face and Lyrical Bravery of Andreas Kalvos (''Η Αληθινή φυσιογνωμία και η λυρική τόλμη του Ανδρέα Κάλβου'', 1942) * 2x7 e (collection of small essays) (''2χ7 ε'' (συλλογή μικρών δοκιμίων)) * (Offering) My Cards To Sight (''Ανοιχτά χαρτιά'' (συλλογή κειμένων), 1973) * The Painter Theophilos (''Ο ζωγράφος Θεόφιλος'', 1973) * The Magic Of Papadiamantis (''Η μαγεία του Παπαδιαμάντη'', 1975) * Report to Andreas Empeirikos (''Αναφορά στον Ανδρέα Εμπειρίκο'', 1977) * Things Public and Private (''Τα Δημόσια και τα Ιδιωτικά'', 1990) * Private Way (''Ιδιωτική Οδός'', 1990) * Carte Blanche (''«Εν λευκώ»'' (συλλογή κειμένων), 1992) * The Garden with the Illusions (''Ο κήπος με τις αυταπάτες'', 1995) * Open Papers: Selected Essays (
Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...
, 1995) (translated by
Olga Broumas Olga Broumas (born 6 May 1949, Hermoupolis) is a Greek poet, resident in the United States. She has been Poet-in-Residence and Director of Creative Writing at Brandeis University since 1995. Biography Born and raised on the island of Syros, Broum ...
and T. Begley)


Art books

* The Room with the Pictures (''Το δωμάτιο με τις εικόνες'', 1986) – collages by Odysseas Elytis, text by Evgenios Aranitsis


Translations

* Second Writing (''Δεύτερη γραφή'', 1976) * Sappho (''Σαπφώ'') * The Apocalypse (by John) (''Η αποκάλυψη'', 1985)


Translations of Elytis' work

* ''Poesie. Procedute dal Canto eroico e funebre per il sottotenente caduto in Albania''. Trad. Mario Vitti (Roma. Il Presente. 1952) * ''21 Poesie''. Trad. Vicenzo Rotolo (Palermo. Istituto Siciliano di Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici. 1968) * ''Poèmes''. Trad. Robert Levesque (1945) * ''Six plus un remords pourle ciel''. Trad. F. B. Mache (Fata Morgana. Montpellier 1977) * ''Körper des Sommers''. Übers. Barbara Schlörb (St. Gallen 1960) * ''Sieben nächtliche Siebenzeiler''. Übers. Günter Dietz (Darmstadt 1966) * ''To Axion Esti – Gepriesen sei''. Übers. Günter Dietz (Hamburg 1969) * ''The Axion Esti''. Tr. E. Keeley and G. Savidis (Pittsburgh 1974 – Greek & English)(repr. London: Anvil Press, 1980 – English only) * ''Lofwaardig is''. Vert. Guido Demoen (Ghent 1989–1991) * ''The Sovereign Sun: selected poems''. Tr. K. Friar (1974; repr. 1990) * ''Selected poems''. Ed. E. Keeley and Ph. Sherrard (1981; repr. 1982, 1991) * ''Maria Nephele'', tr. A. Anagnostopoulos (1981) * ''Çılgın Nar Ağacı'', tr. C. Çapan (Istanbul: Adam Yayınları, 1983) * ''What I love: selected poems'', tr. O. Broumas (1986) reek & English texts* ''To Àxion Estí'', tr. Rubén J. Montañés (Valencia: Alfons el Magnànim, 1992) atalan & Greek edition with notes* ''The Collected Poems of Odysseus Elytis'', Tr. Jeffrey Carson & Nikos Sarris (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997, 2004) * ''The Oxopetra Elegies and West of Sorrow'' , Tr. David Connolly (Harvard University Press - 2014) (Greek & English texts)


Notes


References

*''From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1968–1980'', Editor-in-Charge: Tore Frängsmyr, Editor: Sture Allén, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1993.


Further reading

* Mario Vitti: ''Odysseus Elytis. Literature 1935–1971'' (Icaros 1977) * Tasos Lignadis: ''Elytis' Axion Esti'' (1972) * Lili Zografos: ''Elytis – The Sun Drinker'' (1972); as well as the special issue of the American magazine ''Books Abroad'' dedicated to the work of Elytis (Autumn 1975. Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.A.) * Odysseas Elytis: ''Analogies of Light''. Ed. I. Ivask (1981) * A. Decavalles: ''Maria Nefeli and the Changeful Sameness of Elytis' Variations on a theme'' (1982) * E. Keeley: ''Elytis and the Greek Tradition'' (1983) * Ph. Sherrard: 'Odysseus Elytis and the Discovery of Greece', in ''Journal of Modern Greek Studies'', 1(2), 1983 * K. Malkoff: 'Eliot and Elytis: Poet of Time, Poet of Space', in ''Comparative Literature'', 36(3), 1984 * A. Decavalles: 'Odysseus Elytis in the 1980s', in ''World Literature Today'', 62(l), 1988 * I. Loulakaki-Moore: ''Seferis and Elytis as Translators.'' (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010)


External links

*
Biography in the site of Greek National Book Centre

Recitations of poems by Elytis

Parts of works of his

Books in Greek about Elytis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elytis, Odysseas 1911 births 1996 deaths People from Mytilene Writers from Heraklion National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Cretan poets Modern Greek poets Generation of the '30s Nobel laureates in Literature Greek Nobel laureates Greek art critics Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens 20th-century Greek poets Greek military personnel of World War II