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Nikos Kazantzakis

"THERE IS A KIND OF FLAME IN CRETE..."

One of the most significant Greek novelists, poets, drama writers and scholars. He was born in Iraklion, in 1833 and studied Law in Athens and Philosophy in Paris.

Nikos Kazantzakis

He was influenced by the theories of Ion Dragoumis and Eleftherios Venizelos. His trip to Russia in 1919, acting as General Manager of the Ministry of Welfare, was the introduction of his exciting odyssey: Vienna, Berlin, Italy, Crete, Russia, Cyprus, Spain, Egypt, mount Sinah, Goethesgub (Czechoslovakia), Nice (France). He died in Germany, in 1957. His first novel was "The Snake and the Lilly", in 1906, followed by "Foreman", "Ascetic Life", the translation of Dante's "Divina Comedy". His prime was evident by the works "Life of Alexis Zorbas", "Christ is crossed again", "Captain Michael", "The Last Temptation", "God's Poor Man" and "Reference to Greco".

...Crete's Mystery is deep. Whoever sets foot on the island senses a mysterious force branching warmly and beneficently through his veins, senses his soul begin to grow...

...There is a kind of flame in Crete - let us call it "soul" - something more powerful than either life or death. There is pride, obstinacy, valor, and together with these something else, inexpressible and imponderable, something which makes you rejoice that you are a human being, and at the same time tremble...

...Here in Crete the monstrous immovable statues of Egypt and Assyria became small and graceful, with bodies that moved, mouths that smiled. The features and stature of God took on the features and stature of man. A new, original humanity full of agility, grace and oriental luxury lived and played in the Cretan soil...

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Special thanks to Mr Niko Papoutsakis, presidents of the Cretan Association of British Columbia and great lover of Crete, for sending us this article

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