Yiannis Ritsos ( el, Γιάννης Ρίτσος; 1 May 1909 – 11 November 1990) 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 ...
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 ...
and communist and an active member of the
Greek Resistance during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. While he disliked being regarded as a
political poet, he has been called "the great poet of the Greek left".
Life
Born to a well-to-do landowning family in
Monemvasia
Monemvasia ( el, Μονεμβασιά, Μονεμβασία, or ) is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected t ...
, Ritsos suffered great losses as a child. The early deaths of his mother and eldest brother from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, his father's struggles with a mental disease, and the economic ruin of his family marked Ritsos and affected his poetry. Ritsos himself was confined in a
sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
for tuberculosis from 1927–1931.
Literary start
In 1934, Ritsos joined the
Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He maintained a working-class circle of friends and published ''Tractor'' in 1934.
Kostis Palamas
Kostis Palamas ( el, Κωστής Παλαμάς; – 27 February 1943) was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called Ne ...
, the well known and respected poet, impressed by his talent, praised him publicly.
In 1935, he published ''Pyramids''; these two works sought to achieve a fragile balance between faith in the future, founded on the
Communist ideal, and personal despair. ''Tractors'' and ''Pyramids'' initially were not well-received by leftist critics, who found the language "too embellished" and Ritsos overly focused on form.
[ "An Issue of The CHARIOTEER dedicated to Y annis Ritsos is long overdue. Out of the hundreds of worthy poets that flourished in modem Greece, Ritsos is one of the outstanding few, on a level with Cavafy, Seferis and Elytis. The poet of Romiosini, Epitaphios and Lianotragouda is well-known by every Greek, especially since his unique poetry was set to music by Mikis Theodorakis."]
He was inspired for his landmark poem
''Epitaphios'' by a photo of a dead protester during a massive tobacco-workers demonstration in Thessaloniki in May 1936. Published the same year, it broke with the shape of the Greek traditional popular poetry and expressed in clear and simple language a message of the unity of all people.
Political upheaval and the poet
In August 1936, the
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
of
Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...
came to power and ''Epitaphios'' was burned publicly at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. Ritsos responded by taking his work in a different direction. He began to explore the conquests of
surrealism
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 ...
through the domain of dreams, surprising associations, explosions of images and symbols, a lyricism illustrative of the anguish of the poet, and both tender and bitter souvenirs. During this period Ritsos published ''The Song of my Sister'' (1937) and ''Symphony of the Spring'' (1938).
Axis occupation, Civil War and the Junta
During the
Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1945) Ritsos became a member of the EAM (
National Liberation Front) and authored several poems for the Greek Resistance. These include a booklet of poems dedicated to the resistance leader
Aris Velouchiotis
Athanasios Klaras ( el, Αθανάσιος Κλάρας; August 27, 1905 – June 15, 1945), better known by the ''nom de guerre'' Aris Velouchiotis ( el, Άρης Βελουχιώτης), was a Greek journalist, politician, member of the Commun ...
, written immediately upon the latter's death on 16 June 1945. Ritsos also supported the Left in the subsequent
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
(1946-1949); in 1948 he was arrested and spent four years in prison camps. In the 1950s ''Epitaphios'', set 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'' ...
, became the anthem of the Greek Left.
In 1967 he was arrested by the
Papadopoulos dictatorship and sent to a
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
camp in
Gyaros
Gyaros ( el, Γυάρος ), also locally known as Gioura ( el, Γιούρα), is an arid, unpopulated, and uninhabited Greek island in the northern Cyclades near the islands of Andros and Tinos, with an area of . It is a part of the municipality ...
, later to
Samos
Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...
and finally
Lemnos
Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...
.
Legacy
Today, Ritsos is considered one of the great Greek poets of the twentieth century,
[ "When Yiannis Ritsos passed away on November 11, 1990, the world of poetry lost one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. ..Epitaphios, Romiosini and Moonlight Sonata are three of his best-known works. ..he wrote 'My Sister’s Song', some of the most beautiful lyrics in modern Greek writing."] alongside
Konstantinos Kavafis
Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης ; April 29 (April 17, OS), 1863 – April 29, 1933), known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy (), was a Gree ...
,
Kostas Kariotakis,
Angelos Sikelianos
Angelos Sikelianos ( el, Άγγελος Σικελιανός; 28 March 1884 – 19 June 1951) was a Greek lyric poet and playwright. His themes include Greek history, religious symbolism as well as universal harmony in poems such as ''The Moonstru ...
,
Giorgos 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 ...
, and
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis ( el, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudellis, el, Οδυσσέας Αλεπουδέλλης; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as th ...
.
[ The French poet ]Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...
once said that Ritsos was "the greatest poet of our age." Pablo Neruda
Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...
declared him to be more deserving of the Nobel Prize for Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
than himself.[ Ritsos was unsuccessfully proposed nine times for it. When he won the ]Lenin Peace Prize
The International Lenin Peace Prize (russian: международная Ленинская премия мира, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a pane ...
in 1975, he declared "this prize is more important for me than the Nobel."[
His poetry was banned at times in Greece due to his left wing beliefs.
Notable works by Ritsos include ''Pyramids'' (1935), ''Epitaphios'' (1936; second edition, 1956), ''Vigil'' (1941–1953), ''Romiosini'' (1954) and ''18 short songs of the bitter Motherland'' ('/') (1973).][ "works such as ''Epitaphios'' (1936, and second, definitive edition 1956), ''Romiosyne'' (1947), ''Moonlight Sonata'' (1956), ''Testimonies I'' (1963) and ''II'' (1965), are generally considered to be his best"] Stratis Haviaras also praised two poems (the one about Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and the one about Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
) in his first collection ''Tractor'' (1934).[ Robert Shannan Peckham described him as "perhaps Greece's greatest contemporary poet." ''Epitaphios'' became an anthem of the Greek left in the 1950s, and his best-known work.
Ritsos won the first Greek state poetry award for ''Moonlight Sonata'':
:''I know that each one of us travels to love alone,''
:''alone to faith and to death.''
:''I know it. I’ve tried it. It doesn’t help.''
:''Let me come with you.''
::—from ''Moonlight Sonata''. Translation by Peter Green and Beverly Bardsley
Some offer more measured praise. In a review of ''Selected Poems: 1938-1988'', James Erdman argued,
]To my ear, many of these selections are simply short prose works, lacking the concentration of the best poetry. The pieces of ancient history and mythology from Repetitions such as "The Graves of Our Ancestors," "Alcmene," "Philometa," and "Achilles After Death" seem among the better efforts. ..he often uses dream imagery, which can be effective in small doses but soon grows monotonous: not all concepts can be expressed in images. ..But Ritsos is also capable of writing with great power. His best poem is "Romiosini," a lengthy paean to the spirit of the Greek Resistance.
Ted Sampson stated that Louis Aragon's declaration about Ritsos was "hyperbolic", but wrote that the poet still "excelled in brief epigrammatic utterances as well as in extended lyrics, sequences, and verse dramas of astonishing imagistic and thematic originality—to say nothing of their latent emotional intensity".
Ritsos is also a Golden Wreath Laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings
Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) ( mk, Струшки вечери на поезијата, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several de ...
for 1985.
His daughter, Eri, was a candidate for the European Parliament with KKE
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
in the elections of 25 May 2014.
Translations
* ''Subterranean Horses'', tr. Minas Savvas, illustrations by the author (1980)
* ''Chronicle of Exile'', tr. M. Savvas (1977) elect poems* ''Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland'', tr. A. Mims, illus. Y. Ritsos (1974) reek and English* ''Exile and Return'', tr. E. Keeley (1985; repr. 1987, 1989) elect poems* ''Gestures and other poems, 1968-1970'', tr. N. Stangos, illus. by the poet (1971)
* ''Repetitions, Testimonies, Parentheses'', tr. E. Keeley (1990)
* ''Selected Poems 1938-1988'', tr. K. Friar, K. Myrsiades & others (1989)
* ''Selected Poems'', tr. N. Stangos (1974)
* ''The Fourth Dimension'', tr. P. Green, B. Bardsley (1993)
* ''Late Into the Night: The Last Poems of Yannis Ritsos'', trans. Martin McKinsey (Oberlin College Press, 1995).
* ''Diaries of Exile'', Archipelago Books, , (2012)
* ''Petrified Time: Poems from Makrónissos'', trans. Martin McKinsey and Scott King (Red Dragonfly Press, 2014). .
* ''Twelve Poems About Cavafy'', tr. Paul Merchant (Tavern Books, 2010)
* ''Monochords'', tr. Paul Merchant (Tavern Books, 2017)
References
External links
Poetry
translated into English
Moonlight Sonata
(in Greek and English)
Ritsos on poetryfoundation
biography and poems translated into English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritsos, Yannis
1909 births
1990 deaths
People from Laconia
Greek communists
Modern Greek poets
Generation of the '30s
Communist writers
Communist poets
Prisoners and detainees of Greece
20th-century Greek poets
National Liberation Front (Greece) members
Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates
Lenin Peace Prize recipients
20th-century Greek male writers
Greek male poets
Male dramatists and playwrights