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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]].
→Biography
[[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.
==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]].
In exile with the Greek government in Egypt and South Africa during the [[Second World War]].
==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 (1919-1922)|Greco-Turkish War]] in the [[1920s]].
==Works==
[[Category:1971 deaths|Seferis, Giorgos]]
[[Category:Nobel Prize Winners|Seferis, Giorgos]]
[[Category:Poets|Seferis, Giorgos]]
[[el:Γιώργος Σεφέρης]]
