Nikos Kazantzakis

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Nikos Kazantzakis

Nikos Kazantzakis ( Greek Νίκος Καζαντζάκης , born February 18 . Jul / 2. March  1883 greg. In Heraklion , Crete , Ottoman Empire ; †  26. October 1957 in Freiburg ) was one of the most important Greek writers of the 20th century.

His most tester novel Zorba the Greek (1946) was founded in 1964 by Michael Cacoyannis with Anthony Quinn in the lead role filmed .

Life

Youth, studies, marriage

Kazantzakis (1904)

Nikos Kazantzakis grew up as the son of a merchant in simple circumstances in the city of Megalo Kastro - today's Heraklion in Crete, which was then occupied by the Ottoman Empire. His father fought against the Turkish occupiers. His mother came from a family of farmers. From 1902 to 1906 he studied at the University of Athens Law . His first works were created back then. With the novel The day is dawning - published in 1907 - Kazantzakis became known throughout Greece . After completing his studies in Athens with the grade “very good”, his strict father allowed him to travel through Greece for three months, an experience that left a lasting mark on the author. In 1907 he went to Paris to study political science with Henri Bergson at the Collège de France , whom he later described as one of his most important teachers. During this time, other novels , dramas and philosophical texts were written. Kazantzakis completed his studies with a dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche , who became a role model for him, especially because of his indomitable free spirit, and returned to Greece in 1909. There he met the young intellectual Galateia Alexiou , whom he married in 1911. The marriage failed; In 1926 the couple divorced.

Wandering years

Memorial plaque on the house at Unter den Eichen 63, Berlin-Steglitz

An unsteady phase in Kazantzakis' life began. He traveled to Greece, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, China, Japan, Italy, Egypt, Palestine and Spain, among others. In some of these countries he settled for a short time (e.g. in Berlin from 1920 to 1923). He worked as a journalist , foreign correspondent , translator and author . From 1916 to 1917, with the help of his friend Georgios Sorbas, whom he had met shortly before on the Holy Mount Athos , he tried his hand at a mine in the village of Prastova on the Mani peninsula in the south of the Peloponnese . The project failed, but 30 years later gave him the template for his most famous novel, Alexis Sorbas , in which he erected a literary monument to his friend Georgios.

After the failure of the mining plans, Kazantzakis became involved in Greek politics. For a few months he was Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs under Venizelos (1919/20). In 1922 he organized the repatriation of 150,000 of the so-called Pontic Greeks from the Caucasus to the mother country. Georgios Sorbas accompanied him again. During this phase of his life, important translations were made (Dante's Divine Comedy , Goethe's Faust ), the work Askitiki ( asceticism ) and many travel reports. Kazantzakis repeatedly traveled to the Soviet Union. He was enthusiastic about the ideas of communism and socialism, wrote scripts , essays and articles in Pravda . Kazantzakis was even briefly arrested in Greece for his political activities. After a while, however, he turned away from communism in disappointment. Kazantzakis was passionate about many ideals in his life. But in the end he said himself: “I was a cooper, a Katharévousa lawyer , a nationalist, a Dimotikí lawyer , an intellectual, a poet, a religious fanatic, an atheist, an esthete - and none of these can ever deceive me again. "

Between 1928 and 1932 he lived for several months in the small town of Försterhäuser ( Myslivny ) in Czechoslovakia in order to be able to work in peace and to be inspired.

Last years

Postcard from Nikos Kazantzakis to his doctor Max-Hermann Hörder ; Posted on July 13, 1957 in Chongqing .

Kazantzakis found a home for the first time in 1936: he settled on the island of Aegina . Here he lived with his new, long-time companion Eleni Samiou, whom he married in 1945. A very productive time began on Aegina. Kazantzakis finished one of his major works, the Odyssey , began writing Alexis Sorbas , The Last Temptation of Christ , Liberty or Death, and worked on his work on Buddha . He was also active in politics, traveled and worked for UNESCO for a year .

In 1945 the Greek government commissioned him to investigate war crimes committed by the German occupying forces in Crete. The results of this investigation were published in 1983 by the Municipality of Heraklion under the title Report of the Central Committee for the Establishment of War Crimes in Crete ( Έκθεσις της Κεντρικής Επιτροπής πιτροπής Διαπιστώσεως Ωμοτήτως ).

Kazantzakis' tomb on a citadel in Heraklion

Kazantzakis' last ten years were shaped by his work as a writer, from which he could only live after Alexis Sorbas appeared in 1946 . In 1948 he moved to Antibes with his wife Eleni . Over the next few years, The Last Temptation of Christ and the Greek Passion appeared as an opera composed in 1958 by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů . The Catholic and Orthodox Churches condemned Kazantzakis because of the books and their interpretations of the life of Christ and the critical portrayal of the great churches. Pope Pius XII put The Last Temptation of Christ on the Forbidden Books Index (1954). This finally made Kazantzakis world famous.

In 1953 Nikos Kazantzakis was diagnosed with leukemia , but he lived for several months at the Cademario health resort . In the years that remained, he finished the works of Captain Michalis , the autobiographical novel An account of El Greco and My Francis of Assisi . On June 28, 1956, the World Peace Council in Vienna awarded him the International Peace Prize for 1955.

“I hope nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."

After returning from a long trip to China , which he took despite detailed warnings of his Freiburg doctors, died Nikos Kazantzakis 1957, weakened by his cancer, in the University Hospital of Freiburg from the consequences of insufficient undergoing therapy during the Far East Travel Asian flu , which he had contracted a compulsory vaccination when entering China. His grave is on the southern Martinengo bastion of the Venetian city wall of Heraklion (geographical coordinates 35 ° 19 ′ 57.5 ″  N , 25 ° 7 ′ 50.7 ″  E ); because of his unorthodox views, he was denied burial in a church yard. The epitaph reads:

" Δεν ελπίζω τίποτα. Δε φοβούμαι τίποτα. Είμαι λέφτερος. "
(" Den elpízo típota. De fovoume típota. Íme léfteros. " -
“I hope nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.")

Works

Nikos Kazantzakis is best known for his novels. His central themes are the Turkish rule on Crete , religion and hypocrisy, the animal vitality of life and the question of the meaning of life. There are always strong father figures in Kazantzakis' books. In particular, “Kapitan Michalis” pays homage to his own father. Many books describe the difficult relationship between fathers and their sons. Other important figures are the cheerful, vital people like "Alexis Sorbas" or the "Shepherd Boy Nikolios". Opposite these are the internally torn people like the narrator in Alexis Sorbas or his "Jesus of Nazareth" in The Last Temptation of Christ , who only find themselves after a long struggle.

A selection:

  • 1927 Askitiki
  • 1938 Odyssey
  • 1946 Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά Vios ke politia tou Alexi Zorba
    • Alexis Sorbas . Adventure in Crete , German by Alexander Steinmetz, 1952.
  • 1948 Ο Χριστός ξανασταυρώνεται O Christos xanastavronete
    • Greek Passion , German by Werner Krebs, Berlin: Herbig 1951.
  • 1949 Οι αδερφοφάδες I aderfofades
    • Fratricide , German by Chlodwig Plehn, Munich, Berlin, Vienna: Herbig 1969.
  • 1950 Ο καπετάν Μιχάλης O kapetan Michalis
    • Freedom or Death , German by Helmut von den Steinen , Berlin (West): Herbig 1954
    • Captain Michalis , same translation, Berlin (East): Volk und Welt 1973.
  • 1951 Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός O telefteos pirasmos
  • 1954 Ο Φτωχούλης του Θεού O Ftochoulis tou theou
    • Mein Franz von Assisi , German by Helmut von den Steinen, Hamburg: Wegner 1956.
  • 1961 Αναφορά στον Γκρέκο Anafora ston Greko

Adaptations

Film adaptations

Musical theater

Trivia

  • The largest airport in Crete in his hometown Heraklion was named after him ( Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport , Greek Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Ηρακλείου «  Νίκος Καζαντζάκης  » ).
  • In 1994 the municipality of Nikos Kazantzakis was named after him in Crete .
  • In the same parish, where his father, Myrtia, was born, there is a museum dedicated to him.

literature

  • Peter Bien: Kazantzakis - Politics of the Spirit. Princeton University Press, Princeton 1998, ISBN 0-691-06786-4 .
  • Daniel A. Dombrowski: Kazantzakis and God. State Univ. of New York Press, Albany 1997, ISBN 0-7914-3492-3 .
  • Michael and Renate Hertl: Rainer Maria Rilke , Hermann Hesse , Nikos Kazantzakis. Years of life and suffering with leukemia. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2004, ISBN 978-3-8260-2872-4 .
  • Birgit Igla: The Tragedies of Nikos Kasantzakis. Topic, common traits, philosophical orientation. (= Bochum studies on modern Greek and Byzantine philology. 5). Hakkert, Amsterdam 1984, ISBN 90-256-0874-4 .
  • Thomas Irmer: From Greek antiquity to Europe's present. / Nikos Kazantzakis' retrieved transmission of “Faust” premiered in Cyprus. In: Theater of Time. Booklet 12; Berlin 2002.
  • Ardian Klosi : Mythology at Work. Kazantzakis, Andrić , Kadare . A comparative study using the special example of the construction victim motif. (= Slavic contributions. 277). Sagner, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-87690-494-3 .
  • Leopold Kretzenbacher : Reconciliation in the afterlife. To reflect the apocatastasis thinking in faith, high poetry and legend. (= Meeting reports / Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class. 1971; 7). Beck, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-7696-1441-0 .
  • James F. Lea: Kazantzakis. The politics of salvation. University of Alabama Press, 1979, ISBN 0-8173-7002-1 .
  • Darren JN Middleton: Novel theology. Nikos Kazantzakis's encounter with Whiteheadian process theism. Mercer Univ. Press, Macon, Ga. 2000, ISBN 0-86554-624-X .
  • Lewis Owens: Creative destruction. Nikos Kazantzakis and the literature of responsibility. Mercer Univ. Press, Macon, Ga. 2003, ISBN 0-86554-803-X .
  • Paraskevi Petropoulou: The subject constitution in the European modern novel. On the design of the self and the perception of the other with Hermann Hesse and Nikos Kazantzakis. German Univ.-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-8244-4235-3 .
  • Richard Reschika: Nikos Kazantzakis as a philosopher - 'I hope nothing, I fear nothing, I am free'. In: Rebels of the Spirit. Seven profiles. Arnshaugk Verlag, Neustadt an der Orla 2014, ISBN 978-3-944064-21-5 , pp. 199–242.
  • Adolf J. Schmid : Nikos Kazantzakis - The author of "Alexis Sorbas" died in Freiburg. In: Freiburg Almanac. 2003, p. 117 ff.
  • Peter Sinnemann: The Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, who had leukemia, had himself treated several times in the university clinic. He died in 1957 - “Alexis Sorbas” keeps dancing. In: Badische Zeitung. Freiburg / Breisgau, October 27, 1997, “Freiburger Zeitung”, p. 2.
  • Peter Sinnemann: “That's why I'm going to perform the play.” About a world premiere and a scandal in a little-known piece of Mannheim theater history. In: Badische Heimat. Karlsruhe 4/1998, pp. 556-565.
  • Pavlos Tzermias : Nikos Kazantzakis and Justice. An analysis of the 'Greek Passion'. (= Contributions to the promotion of relations between Greece and abroad. 2). Flamberg, Zurich a. a. 1963.
  • Pavlos Tzermias: Kazantzakis and the displaced. In: New German Issues. Berlin 1959, pp. 1014-1024.

Web links

Commons : Nikos Kazantzakis  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Kazantzakis, Nikos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Heraklion , Crete, Greece
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1957
Place of death Freiburg im Breisgau , Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany