Nikos Kazantzakis

Born in February 18th, 1883. Fathered by Captain Michalis a very strict, harsh man that influences him deeply. One of the most important Greek writers and the most translated worldwide with his books being published in 60 languages.

He appears first in Greek literature with the novel “Serpent and Lily”. Later on he travels to Paris where he is influenced by Bergson, and in 1911 he gets married to Galatia Alexiou. In 1919, with Eleftherios Venizelos as Prime Minister of Greece, he is put in charge of the Ministry of Healthcare with the mission to assist the return of the Greeks of Caucasus. He travels to Vienna, Germany, Soviet Union, Palestine, Cyprus, Spain. These experiences are documented in a series of books titled “Travelling”. In 1924 he meets Eleni Samiou and lives with her 21 years without marriage. They were finally married in 1945 just before the journey to the U.S.A. He writes “Odyssey” and “The Saviors of God” for which he is prosecuted for being an atheist. In 1943 he finishes “Zorbas the Greek”.

Nominated three times for a Nobel Prize, Kazantzakis was criticized by the Church for a part of the novel “Freedom or Death” and for the total of « The Last Temptation of Christ».

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