Konstantinos kavafis biography sample

Greek poet advocate journalist (1863–1933)

"Cavafy" redirects foundation. For say publicly 1997 disc, see Cavafy (film).

Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης[ka'vafis]; 29 April (OS 17 April), 1863 – 29 Apr 1933), renowned, especially pin down English, makeover Constantine P. Cavafy queue often in print as C. P. Cavafy (), was a European poet, reporter, and secular servant differ Alexandria.^[2] A major compute of additional Greek creative writings, he deference sometimes wise the nearly distinguished Hellenic poet run through the Twentieth century.^[3][4] His works build up consciously single style attained him a place amongst the domineering important contributors not sole to Hellenic poetry, but to Northwestern poetry introduction a whole.^[5]

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Cavafy's work has been translated numerous ancient in repeat languages. His

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The oeuvre of Constantine Cavafy, which includes both poetry and prose, comprises a discrete hub in Greek poetry, and holds an important place in world literature as well

Undated photographic portrait of Cavafy - Cavafy Archive: Digital Repository

THE “HELLENIC” POET

Born on April 29, 1863 in Alexandria, Egypt, where he died on the same day in 1933, Constantine Cavafy is the leading poet of the periphery, writing in Greek far from Greek lands. The body of his poetry includes the 154 poems of the “canon”, 37 “repudiated poems”, most of which are juvenilia written in romantic katharevousa, 75 “hidden” poems that were found finished in his papers, and 30 “unfinished” poems. His poems often feature historical figures or creations of the poet’s imagination, with frequent references to familiar or less familiar elements of Homeric, Hellenistic, and Byzantine years. Today his poetry comprises a discrete pole in Greek literature, and he enjoys a prominent place in world literature as well.

Undated photographic portrait of Cavafy - Cavafy Archive: Digital Repository

“I, too, am Hellenic [ellinikos]. Mind you, not Greek [Ellin], nor Grecified [Ellinizon], but Hellenic.”

Trans. Daniel Mendelsohn

CAVAFY AND HIS ERA

Cavafy was born in the Egypt of Ismail Pasha;

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Cavafy, Constantine

BORN: 1863, Alexandria, Egypt

DIED: 1933, Alexandria, Egypt

NATIONALITY: Egyptian, Greek

GENRE: Poetry

MAJOR WORKS:
“Waiting for the Barbarians” (1904)
“The City” (1910)
“Ithaca” (1911)
“Exiles” (1914)

Overview

Constantine Cavafy is considered the first modernist Greek poet. He revolutionized Greek poetry while highlighting clear affinities with Hellenistic poetry of the Alexandrian era.

Works in Biographical and Historical Context

Cosmopolitan Youth Constantine P. Cavafy was born Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis in Alexandria, Egypt, to a Greek family. His father was a successful importer-exporter whose business led him frequently to England. When Cavafy's father died, the family moved to Liverpool, England. It was there that Cavafy began his poetic efforts. He took a liking to William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde and created verse in English. He was also fascinated by history, especially ancient Greek (Hellenistic) and ancient Roman (Byzantine) history; this fondness for ancient Greece and Rome figured prominently in Cavafy's poetry.

Cavafy's older brothers ultimately bankrupted the family business through mismanagement. Cavafy's mother

took him to Constantinople (now Istanbul), where they lived for three years. Then his mother returned