Yiannis Ritsos (Greek: Γιάννης Ritsos; born on November 22, 1912, in Patra) was a Greek poet who wrote in both Greek and French. He was a major figure of the Modern Greek poetry movement and the post-war poetry of Europe. After graduating from high school in 1933, he traveled to France and studied at the Sorbonne University of Paris, where he achieved his Baccalauréat. While in Paris, he had contact with many of the major poets of his time such as André Breton and Louis Aragon. He was only 23 when he published his first collection of poems "Poûtiklástika" (1935) which earned him a world-wide reputation within the circles of Greek-French poetry. After World War II, he returned to Greece and began working on a new collection entitled "Ithaka" which took him over ten years to complete
It remains one of his most significant works and is considered by some to be his greatest work. It consists of five books of poetry: "Ithaka", "Lefkí" (1948), "Mnema" (1949), "Doulo" (1951), and "Elegies" (1953). In 1952 he received the prestigious Tommasini Prize from the Italian government for "Ithaka". In 1958, Ritsos was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition for his significant contribution to contemporary European literature.
Some critics believe that it is not a coincidence that this prize was awarded right after Yugoslavia's Tito had been awarded the same year's Stalin Peace Prize - they believed that it was an attempt to denigrate Yugoslavia's government at a time when Tito was becoming more popular worldwide. Ritsos died on July 29, 1975, in Athens from Lou Gehrig's disease.
When there's a moon the shadows in the house grow larger;invisible hands draw back the curtains, a pallid finger writes forgotten words on dustof the piano...Yiannis Ritsos
… the fisherman’s daughter grinding serenity in her coffee grinder.Yiannis Ritsos
