The page of Themelis, Giorgos, English biography
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Biography
Giorgos Themelis was born in Samos and studied Greek in the University of Athens. He later relocated to Salonica and worked as a schoolteacher. He was awarded the Prize of the New Estia literary periodical for a short story of his in 1927. He took part in editing the avant-garde magazines of the time Μακεδονικές Μέρες and Κοχλίας. His first appearance as a poet was in 1945 with Γυμνό Παράθυρο, where the influences of surrealism, Cavafy and Seferis are obvious. His ensuing collections of poetry are distinguished by their maturity of expression and his deeply felt metaphysical concerns. He felt that art elevates life to the status of an imperishable, timeless value. Themelis left a large volume of poetic works that, as Linos Politis observes, sometimes veers to the verbose.
Besides being an established poet, Themelis was also an important critic of Modern Greek literature, poignant and penetrative. Among his many works are Η διδασκαλία των Νέων Ελληνικών-το πρόβλημα της ερμηνείας (1949), a very welcome text to for the schoolteacher and Η νεώτερη ποίησή μας (1963). The latter book makes the first attempt at classifying modern poets by genre, although many other literary critics voiced doubts about his conclusions. Themelis, while displaying awareness and a penetrating gaze, attempted to show that literature succeeds in establishing a new world of moral values. He also translated widely.
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(Editor of this page: P. T.)
