Lorentzatos Zisimos

Zisimos Lorentzatos was born in Athens. He graduated from the Philosophical School of the University of Athens and engaged in critical study, translation and poetry. It first appeared in letters in 1936 with Edgar Poe's study "The Exceptions; The Philosophy of Composition; The Poetic Principle", which he later repudiated, and was established with his book "Essay I", on the poetic work of Dionysios Solomos. He also published studies on the work of Alexandros Papadiamantis, George Seferis, K.P. Cavafy, Angelos Sikelianos, Dimitris Hatzis and others. In the field of translation, he worked with writers such as Ezra Pound, Andre Zid and William Blaich. He was honored in 1988 with the Akratiko essay-critique prize, which he did not accept, while in 2001 he was honored with the Urani Foundation Award for his entire work.

Zisimos Lorentzatos was a man of deep intellectual cultivation and critical cheerfulness. A writer himself, he stamped with his critical essays the literary production of his contemporaries, opening up outlets and perspectives for them. But his influence was decisive not only because of its great influence, but also because of its duration: Lorenzatos published continuously for seven decades! Even after his death, he bequeathed to us the post mortem edition Collectanea, which is, in a way, an inclusion or precious distillation of his contemplative power. His Greek-centric outlook combined with its cosmopolitan breadth, his deep intellectual background, his attachment to the tradition of popular culture and his freedom of thought, justifiably rank him in the general canon of modern Greek scholarship.