George Seferis - Revision history

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Biography

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Irlandos at 12:44, December 16, 2005

2005-12-16T12:44:53Z

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2005-12-16T12:43:25Z

Biography

Lazarus at 13:28, November 2, 2005

2005-11-02T13:28:10Z

Lazarus at 13:27, November 2, 2005

2005-11-02T13:27:45Z

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 ==Biography==
 [[Image:Seferis-p 04.jpg|thumb|250px|The poet with his spouse, Maro]]
-Seferis was born in [[Smyrna]] in [[Asia Minor]] (now İzmir, Turkey). His father, Stelios Seferiadis, was a lawyer, and later a professor at the [[University of Athens]], as well as a poet and translator in his own right. He was also a staunch [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] and a supporter of the [[Modern Greek|demotic]] [[Greek language]] over the formal, official language ([[katharevousa]]). Both of these attitudes influenced his son. In [[1914]] the family moved to [[Athens]], where Seferis completed his secondary school education. He continued his studies in Paris from [[1918]] to [[1925]], studying law at the Sorbonne. While he was there, in September [[1922]], Smyrna was occupied by the Turks and its Greek population, including Seferis' family, fled. Seferis would not visit Smyrna again until [[1950]]; the sense of being an exile from his childhood home would inform much of Seferis' poetry, showing itself particularly in his interest in the story of [[Odysseus]].
+Seferis was born in [[Smyrna]] in [[Asia Minor]] (now İzmir, Turkey). His father, [[Stelios Seferiadis]], was a lawyer, and later a professor at the [[University of Athens]], as well as a poet and translator in his own right. He was also a staunch [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] and a supporter of the [[Modern Greek|demotic]] [[Greek language]] over the formal, official language ([[katharevousa]]). Both of these attitudes influenced his son. In [[1914]] the family moved to [[Athens]], where Seferis completed his secondary school education. He continued his studies in Paris from [[1918]] to [[1925]], studying law at the Sorbonne. While he was there, in September [[1922]], Smyrna was occupied by the Turks and its Greek population, including Seferis' family, fled. Seferis would not visit Smyrna again until [[1950]]; the sense of being an exile from his childhood home would inform much of Seferis' poetry, showing itself particularly in his interest in the story of [[Odysseus]].
 Married Maria Zannou ('Maro') on [[April 10|10th April]] [[1941]].

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 ==Other==
-In [[1999]], there was a dispute over the naming of a street in Ízmir ''Yorgos Seferis Sokagi'' (a Turkification of Giorgos Seferis), due to continuing ill-feeling around the [[Greco-Turkish War]] in the [[1920s]].
+In [[1999]], there was a dispute over the naming of a street in Ízmir ''Yorgos Seferis Sokagi'' (a Turkification of Giorgos Seferis), due to continuing ill-feeling around the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|Greco-Turkish War]] in the [[1920s]].
 ==Works==

@@ Line 73: / Line 73: @@
 [[Category:1971 deaths|Seferis, Giorgos]]
 [[Category:Nobel Prize Winners|Seferis, Giorgos]]
+[[Category:Poets|Seferis, Giorgos]]
 [[el:Γιώργος Σεφέρης]]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Seferis was born in [[Smyrna]] in [[Asia Minor]] (now İzmir, Turkey). His father, Stelios Seferiadis, was a lawyer, and later a professor at the [[University of Athens]], as well as a poet and translator in his own right. He was also a staunch [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] and a supporter of the [[Modern Greek|demotic]] [[Greek language]] over the formal, official language ([[katharevousa]]). Both of these attitudes influenced his son. In [[1914]] the family moved to [[Athens]], where Seferis completed his secondary school education. He continued his studies in Paris from [[1918]] to [[1925]], studying law at the Sorbonne. While he was there, in September [[1922]], Smyrna was occupied by the Turks and its Greek population, including Seferis' family, fled. Seferis would not visit Smyrna again until [[1950]]; the sense of being an exile from his childhood home would inform much of Seferis' poetry, showing itself particularly in his interest in the story of [[Odysseus]].
-Married Maria Zannou ('Maro') on [[April 10}10th April]] [[1941]].
+Married Maria Zannou ('Maro') on [[April 10|10th April]] [[1941]].
 In exile with the Greek government in Egypt and South Africa during the [[Second World War]].

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Seferis was born in [[Smyrna]] in [[Asia Minor]] (now İzmir, Turkey). His father, Stelios Seferiadis, was a lawyer, and later a professor at the [[University of Athens]], as well as a poet and translator in his own right. He was also a staunch [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] and a supporter of the [[Modern Greek|demotic]] [[Greek language]] over the formal, official language ([[katharevousa]]). Both of these attitudes influenced his son. In [[1914]] the family moved to [[Athens]], where Seferis completed his secondary school education. He continued his studies in Paris from [[1918]] to [[1925]], studying law at the Sorbonne. While he was there, in September [[1922]], Smyrna was occupied by the Turks and its Greek population, including Seferis' family, fled. Seferis would not visit Smyrna again until [[1950]]; the sense of being an exile from his childhood home would inform much of Seferis' poetry, showing itself particularly in his interest in the story of [[Odysseus]].
-Married Maria Zannou ('Maro') on 10th April 1941.
+Married Maria Zannou ('Maro') on [[April 10}10th April]] [[1941]].
 In exile with the Greek government in Egypt and South Africa during the [[Second World War]].

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:44, December 16, 2005
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−	[[Image:Seferis1.jpg\|frame\|left\|George Seferis]]'''George''' (Giorgos) '''Seferis''' (Γιώργος Σεφέρης) ([[February 19]], [[1900]] – [[September 20]], [[1971]]) was one of the most important [[Greece\|Greek]] poets of the 20th century. He also pursued a career in the Greek foreign service, culminating in his appointment as Ambassador to the [[UK]], a post which he held from [[1957]] to [[1962]].	+	[[Image:Seferis1.jpg\|frame\|left\|George Seferis]]'''George''' (Giorgos) '''Seferis''' (Γιώργος Σεφέρης) ([[February 19]], [[1900]] – [[September 20]], [[1971]]) was one of the most important [[Greece\|Greek]] poets of the 20th century. He also pursued a career in the Greek foreign service, culminating in his appointment as Ambassador to the UK, a post which he held from [[1957]] to [[1962]].

	'Seferis' was a pen name, a variation on his family name, '''Seferiadis''', which makes reference to the Turkish word meaning journey (from which the English word 'safari' is derived). He continued to use 'Seferiadis' in his professional life.		'Seferis' was a pen name, a variation on his family name, '''Seferiadis''', which makes reference to the Turkish word meaning journey (from which the English word 'safari' is derived). He continued to use 'Seferiadis' in his professional life.

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 ==Biography==
-Seferis was born in [[Smyrna]] in [[Asia Minor]] (now [[Izmir|İzmir]], [[Turkey]]). His father, Stelios Seferiadis, was a lawyer, and later a professor at the [[University of Athens]], as well as a poet and translator in his own right. He was also a staunch [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] and a supporter of the [[Modern Greek|demotic]] [[Greek language]] over the formal, official language ([[katharevousa]]). Both of these attitudes influenced his son. In [[1914]] the family moved to [[Athens]], where Seferis completed his secondary school education. He continued his studies in Paris from [[1918]] to [[1925]], studying law at the Sorbonne. While he was there, in September [[1922]], Smyrna was occupied by the Turks and its Greek population, including Seferis' family, fled. Seferis would not visit Smyrna again until [[1950]]; the sense of being an exile from his childhood home would inform much of Seferis' poetry, showing itself particularly in his interest in the story of [[Odysseus]].
+Seferis was born in [[Smyrna]] in [[Asia Minor]] (now İzmir, Turkey). His father, Stelios Seferiadis, was a lawyer, and later a professor at the [[University of Athens]], as well as a poet and translator in his own right. He was also a staunch [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] and a supporter of the [[Modern Greek|demotic]] [[Greek language]] over the formal, official language ([[katharevousa]]). Both of these attitudes influenced his son. In [[1914]] the family moved to [[Athens]], where Seferis completed his secondary school education. He continued his studies in Paris from [[1918]] to [[1925]], studying law at the Sorbonne. While he was there, in September [[1922]], Smyrna was occupied by the Turks and its Greek population, including Seferis' family, fled. Seferis would not visit Smyrna again until [[1950]]; the sense of being an exile from his childhood home would inform much of Seferis' poetry, showing itself particularly in his interest in the story of [[Odysseus]].
 Married Maria Zannou ('Maro') on 10th April 1941.
@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 In exile with the Greek government in Egypt and South Africa during the [[Second World War]].
-Seferis was greatly influenced by [[Constantine P. Cavafy|Kavafis]], [[T. S. Eliot]] and [[Ezra Pound]].
+Seferis was greatly influenced by [[Constantine P. Cavafy|Kavafis]], T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.
 ===Cyprus===
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 Seferis first visited [[Cyprus]] in 1952. He immediately fell in love with the island, partly because of its resemblance, in its landscape, the mixture of populations, and in its traditions, to his childhood summer home in Skala. His book of poems ''Imerologio Katastromatos III'' was inspired by the island, and mostly written there – bringing to an end a period of six or seven years in which Seferis had not produced any poetry. Its original title was ''Cyprus, where it was ordained for me…'', a quotation from [[Euripides]]’ ''[[Helen]]'', in which Helen’s brother [[Teucer]] states that [[Apollo]] has decreed that Cyprus shall be his home; it made clear the optimistic sense of homecoming Seferis felt on discovering the island. Seferis changed the title in the [[1959]] edition of his poems.
-Politically, Cyprus was entangled in the dispute between the [[UK]], [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] over its international status. Over the next few years, Seferis made use of his position in the diplomatic service to strive towards a resolution of the [[Cyprus dispute]], investing a great deal of personal effort and emotion. This was one of the few areas in his life in which he allowed the personal and the political to mix.
+Politically, Cyprus was entangled in the dispute between the UK, [[Greece]] and Turkey over its international status. Over the next few years, Seferis made use of his position in the diplomatic service to strive towards a resolution of the [[Cyprus dispute]], investing a great deal of personal effort and emotion. This was one of the few areas in his life in which he allowed the personal and the political to mix.
 ===The Nobel Prize===
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 In [[1967]] the repressive nationalist, right-wing [[Greek military junta of 1967-1974|Regime of the Colonels]] took power in Greece after a coup d'état. After two years marked by widespread censorship, political detentions and torture, Seferis took a stand against the regime. On 28 March 1969, he made a statement on the BBC World Service [http://pieiria.spark.net.gr/tutor/Sefdilosi.htm], with copies simultaneously distributed to every newspaper in Athens. In authoritative and absolute terms, he stated "This anomaly must end".
-Seferis did not live to see the end of the junta in [[1974]], the direct result of [[Turkey]]’s invasion of Cyprus, which had been prompted by the junta’s attempt to overthrow Cyprus’ Archbishop [[Makarios]].
+Seferis did not live to see the end of the junta in [[1974]], the direct result of Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus, which had been prompted by the junta’s attempt to overthrow Cyprus’ Archbishop [[Makarios]].
 At his funeral, huge crowds followed his coffin through the streets of Athens, singing [[Mikis Theodorakis]]’ setting of Seferis’ poem 'Denial' (then banned); he had become a popular hero for his resistance to the regime.

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 ===The Nobel Prize===
-[[Image:Seferis1963.jpg|frame|In a 1963 photograph]]In 1963, Seferis was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture." [[http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1963/press.html]] Seferis was the first Greek to receive the prize (and the only, until [[Odysseas Elytis]] became a Nobel laureate in [[1979]]). His nationality, and the role he had played in the 20th century renaissance of Greek literature and culture, were probably a large contributing factor to the award decision. But in his acceptance speech, Seferis chose to emphasise his own humanist philosophy, concluding: "When on his way to Thebes Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, his answer to its riddle was: 'Man'. That simple word destroyed the monster. We have many monsters to destroy. Let us think of the answer of Oedipus." [[http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1963/seferis-speech.html]] While Seferis has sometimes been considered a nationalist poet, his 'Hellenism' had more to do with his identifying a unifying strand of humanism in the continuity of Greek culture and literature.
+[[Image:Seferis1963.jpg|frame|In a 1963 photograph]]In 1963, Seferis was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture." [[http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1963/press.html]] Seferis was the first Greek to receive the prize (and the only, until [[Odysseus Elytis]] became a Nobel laureate in [[1979]]). His nationality, and the role he had played in the 20th century renaissance of Greek literature and culture, were probably a large contributing factor to the award decision. But in his acceptance speech, Seferis chose to emphasise his own humanist philosophy, concluding: "When on his way to Thebes Oedipus encountered the Sphinx, his answer to its riddle was: 'Man'. That simple word destroyed the monster. We have many monsters to destroy. Let us think of the answer of Oedipus." [[http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1963/seferis-speech.html]] While Seferis has sometimes been considered a nationalist poet, his 'Hellenism' had more to do with his identifying a unifying strand of humanism in the continuity of Greek culture and literature.
 ===Statement of 1969===