Nikos Kazantzakis

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Nikos Kazantzakis
Kazantzakis in 1904
Native name	Νίκος Καζαντζάκης
Born	(1883-03-02)2 March 1883 Kandiye, Crete, Ottoman Empire (now Heraklion, Greece)
Died	26 October 1957(1957-10-26) (aged 74) Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany (now Germany)
Resting place	Martinengo Bastion, Venetian Walls of Heraklion
Occupation	Poet, novelist, essayist, travel writer, philosopher, playwright, journalist, translator
Language	Modern Greek
Nationality	Greek
Education	University of Athens (1902–1906; J.D., 1906)[1] University of Paris (1907–1909; DrE, 1909)[1]
Spouse	Galateia Kazantzakis ​ ​ (m. 1911; div. 1926)​ Eleni Kazantzakis ​ (m. 1945)​
Signature

Nikos Kazantzakis (Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης [ˈnikos kazanˈd͡zacis]; 2 March (OS 18 February) 1883^[2] – 26 October 1957) was a Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher.^[3][4] Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years,^[5] and remains the most translated Greek author worldwide.^[6]

Kazantzakis's novels included Zorba the Greek (published in 1946 as Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas), Christ Recrucified (1948), Captain Michalis (1950, translated Freedom or Death), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1955). He also wrote plays, travel books, memoirs, and philosophical essays, such as The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises. His fame spread in the English-speaking world due to cinematic adaptations of Zorba the Greek (1964) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

He also translated a number of notable works into Modern Greek, such as the Divine Comedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, On the Origin of Species, and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.^[7]