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Yiannis Ritsos

ヤニス・リツォス

Yiannis Ritsos

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1909-05-01 （Monemvasia, Greece）
Died
1990-11-11 （Athens, Greece） age 81
Nationality
Greek
Languages
Greek
Residence History
Monemvasia (birthplace) → Athens (long-term residence) → Gyaros (internment) → Samos (internment) → Lemnos (internment)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Political activist, Communist party member
Active Years
1934-1990
Affiliations
Communist Party of Greece (KKE), EAM (National Liberation Front)
Memberships
Communist Party of Greece (KKE), EAM (National Liberation Front)
Influenced By
Kostis Palamas, Surrealism, Leftist political ideology
Influenced
Greek left-wing cultural movement, Mikis Theodorakis (musical settings popularized his poetry), Later 20th-century Greek poets
Nominations
Nobel Prize in Literature nominee (shortlisted at least in 1973)

Awards

Lenin Peace Prize
1975
Organization: Lenin Peace Prize (Soviet commission)
Result: 受賞
Golden Wreath (Struga Poetry Evenings)
1985
Organization: Struga Poetry Evenings
Result: 受賞
Greek State Poetry Award (Moonlight Sonata)
Work: Moonlight Sonata
Organization: Greek state (State Poetry Award)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Tractor

1934 Poetry collection

An early collection reflecting workers' and rural life, balancing hope in the future with personal despair.

laborfuturedespair
Translations
  • Tractor (selected poems translated into English)

Pyramids

1935 Poetry collection

A collection in which social ideals and personal anguish intersect.

societypersonal anguish

Epitaphios

1936 Poem

A long poem inspired by a photograph of a dead protester at a tobacco-workers' demonstration; it uses plain language to call for human solidarity and later became an anthem of the Greek Left.

solidarityprotestloss
Adaptations
  • [Music (song cycle)] Epitaphios (musical setting by Mikis Theodorakis)
Translations
  • Epitaphios (translated into English)

Moonlight Sonata

1956 Poetry collection

A mature collection showcasing lyricism and introspection; considered one of his representative works and reported to have won a Greek state poetry award.

lovefaithdeath

Romiosini

1954 Poem

A long poem praising the spirit of the Greek Resistance; regarded as one of Ritsos's major works.

resistancehistorynational identity

Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland

1973 Poetry collection

A short collection reflecting the sufferings and resilience of Greece under the military junta.

dictatorshipsufferingresistance

Bibliography

  • Tractor (1934)
  • Pyramids (1935)
  • Epitaphios (1936; 2nd ed. 1956)
  • Vigil (1941–1953)
  • Romiosini (1954)
  • Moonlight Sonata (1956)
  • Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland (1973)

Adaptations

  • Epitaphios was set to music by Mikis Theodorakis and became an anthem of the Greek Left.
  • Fragments of his poems have been quoted in sculptures and public art (e.g., a sculpture in Erlangen).

Translations of Works

  • Subterranean Horses (tr. Minas Savvas, 1980)
  • Chronicle of Exile (tr. M. Savvas, 1977 [selected poems])
  • Eighteen Short Songs of the Bitter Motherland (tr. A. Mims, 1974)
  • Selected Poems 1938–1988 (tr. K. Friar et al., 1989)
  • Late Into the Night: The Last Poems of Yannis Ritsos (tr. Martin McKinsey, 1995)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
ModernismSurrealist imageryLyrical and often allegorical diction
Recurring Motifs
resistance and solidaritymemory and losslove of the motherlanddreams and symbolism

Health

  • Tuberculosis
    1927–1931
    Underwent long sanatorium treatment, which affected his poetry and outlook on life.

Legacy

Considered one of Greece's leading 20th-century poets who greatly influenced left-wing culture. His work was at times censored at home but he received international recognition, including the Lenin Peace Prize and the Golden Wreath at Struga; he was proposed for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times.

Archives

  • National Library of Greece (holds some papers)

In Popular Culture

  • A sculpture 'Prisoner Stones 1' in Erlangen features a poem by Yannis Ritsos.

Quotes

  • 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.
    Source: Moonlight Sonata (excerpt, translation by Peter Green & Beverly Bardsley)

Trivia

  • In 1936 Epitaphios was publicly burned at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens.
  • In the 1950s Mikis Theodorakis set Epitaphios to music, which became an anthem of the Greek Left.
  • When he won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1975 he is reported to have said the prize was more important to him than the Nobel.
  • He received the Golden Wreath at the Struga Poetry Evenings in 1985.
  • His daughter Eri was a candidate for the European Parliament with KKE in the 25 May 2014 elections.