Nikos Kazantzakis

Nikos Kazantzakis (Greek Νίκος Καζαντζάκης February 18, 1883, Heraklion, Crete - October 26, 1957, Freiburg, Germany) was a Greek novelist, poet, playwriter and thinker. Arguably the most important Greek writer and philosopher of the 20th century, he acquired wide fame after Michael Cacoyannis made his novel Zorba the Greek (Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά) into a film in 1964. He is the most translated contemporary Greek author.

Biography

Kazantzakis was born in Heraklion in 1883, at that time a small town still under Turkish rule, but under intense revolutionary fever, following the continuous uprisings of the Greek population to achieve independence from the Ottoman empire and to unite with Greece.

Related Topics:
Heraklion - 1883 - Ottoman empire - Greece

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In 1902 he moved to Athens, Greece where he studied Law at the Athens University and then in 1907 to Paris to study Philosophy. There he was influenced by the teachings of Henri Bergson.

Related Topics:
1902 - Athens, Greece - Athens - 1907 - Paris - Philosophy - Henri Bergson

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Back in Greece, he started translating works of philosophy and in 1914 he got acquainted with Angelos Sikelianos. Together they travelled for two years in places where Greek Christian culture flourished, largely influenced by the enthusiastic nationalism of Sikelianos.

Related Topics:
1914 - Angelos Sikelianos

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In 1919, as Director General of the Ministry of Social Relief, he transferred Greek populations from the Caucasus region to Greece in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. For Kazantzakis, this was the beginning of a odyssey across the world. Until his death in 1957, he sojourned in Paris and Berlin (from 1922 to 1924), Italy, Russia (in 1925), Spain (in 1932), and then Cyprus, Aegina, Egypt, Mount Sinai, Czechoslovakia, Nice, China, and Japan.

Related Topics:
1919 - Caucasus - Greece - Russian Revolution - 1957 - Berlin - 1922 - 1924 - Italy - Russia - 1925 - Spain - 1932 - Cyprus - Aegina - Egypt - Mount Sinai - Czechoslovakia - Nice - China - Japan

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During his stay in Berlin, where a critical and explosive situation ruled, Kazantzakis was introduced to communism and became an admirer of Lenin, but he never became a consistent communist. Yet, since that time, his nationalistic beliefs were replaced by a more universal ideology.

Related Topics:
Communism - Lenin - Ideology

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In 1957 he started a new trip to China and Japan. This, however, was his last. He became ill and was transferred to Freiburg, Germany, where he died. He was buried at Heraklion. His epitaph read "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free." (Δεν ελπίζω τίποτε. Δεν φοβάμαι τίποτε. Είμαι λεύτερος)

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