Galateia Kazantzakis (Greek: Γαλάτεια Καζαντζάκη; 1884 – November 17, 1962) was a Greek novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, and activist. She is considered one of the most prolific female Greek Modernist writers.[1]
Biography
editThe writer and activist was born Galateia Alexiou in Heraklion, on the Greek island of Crete, in 1884, although some sources give her birth year as 1881.[1][2][3] Her father, Stylianos Alexiou, was a publisher and author, and her sister, Ellie Alexiou, also became a well-known writer.[2][4]
Kazantzakis began her career as a journalist, with her first piece appearing in the Cretan publication Pinakothiki in 1906.[1][5] She then began to publish translations from French, reviews, and short prose pieces in Pinakothiki and other publications such as the magazine Panathinea.[1] In 1909, she published her first novella, Ridi, Pagliaccio ("Laugh, Clown"), in the journal Nouma.[1] This was followed by various works including the 1915 lyric narrative Brief Prose Portraits, the 1927 short story collection 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and, in 1933, her first novel, Women.[1][3][6] She wrote under various pen names, including Lalo de Castro and Petroula Psiloriti.[1]
From her earliest writing, Kazantzakis advocated for feminist empowerment and the dismantling of male-dominated social structures.[1] She notably wrote in Demotic vernacular, the language of everyday people.[4]
Kazantzakis became increasingly involved in left-wing politics and activism during the interwar years, identifying herself as both a feminist and a socialist.[1] She served as editor in chief of the communist publication Protoporoi and then the Trostkyist-leaning Nea Epitheorisi.[1] In her writing, she condemned women's sexual and labor exploitation.[1] During World War II, she was active in the Greek resistance.[1] She would be persecuted for her communism, losing her job at the Athens municipal library after the war over her views, but she was never exiled or imprisoned at length.[5][6]
Critics argue her work has been undervalued in the shadow of her former husband Nikos Kazantzakis, a major figure in modern Greek literature known for such books as Zorba the Greek.[1] After a year living together in Athens, in 1911, the couple married, despite the groom's father opposing the union.[1][2][5] They would divorce in 1926.[5][6] In 1933, she remarried Markos Avgeris, also a writer, whom she had known for decades, but she still published under her former husband's surname.[5][6]
In her later years, Kazantzakis continued to produce fiction, including the short prose collection Turning Points (1952).[1][6] Her last book, 1956's Humans and Superhumans, was a work of autobiographical fiction that dealt with her tumultuous relationship with her former husband.[1][5] It is considered her best-known novel.[5]
Kazantzakis was also a prolific playwright.[1] In 1933, her play While the Ship Sails became particularly well known after it was performed by the National Theatre of Greece.[6][7] Her collected plays, 17 in total, were published in 1957.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Fyta, Anna (2021-05-04). "Galatea Kazantzaki (Alexiou) (1884–1962): a modernist Greek author's decadent poetics". Feminist Modernist Studies. 4 (2): 271–294. doi:10.1080/24692921.2021.1903286. ISSN 2469-2921.
- ^ a b c "Galatea, the other Kazantzakis, an author neglected in the world of men". Neos Kosmos. 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ^ a b Merry, Bruce (2004). Encyclopedia of modern Greek literature. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30813-0.
- ^ a b Tannen, Deborah (1976). "Lilika Nakos and Other Greek Women Writers" (PDF). Pilgrimage. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kazantzakis, Nikos; Kazantzakē, Galateia; Papastephanou, Emmanuel (1979). The suffering god: selected letters to Galatea and to Papastephanou. New Rochelle, N.Y: Caratzas Brothers. ISBN 978-0-89241-088-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Γαλάτεια Καζαντζάκη". Σαν Σήμερα (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ^ "Ενώ το πλοίο ταξιδεύει | Γαλάτεια Καζαντζάκη | Cartel Τεχνοχώρος | Πρεμιέρα 26 Οκτωβρίου". ERT Open (in Greek). 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2024-05-01.