Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS: (Obituary by Emilios Hourmouzios) – The death of the renowned Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis in a Freiburg hospital on October 26 is yet another great loss for modern Greek literature, so soon after the death of the poet Angelos Sikelianos. The youth of Greece has also lost a fine moral example, for Kazantzakis was an honorable man. At a time when there is such a dearth of sincere human beings and far too many pretentious personalities, people such as Kazantzakis are a reassuring consolation that human dignity has not completely disappeared. Nikos Kazantzakis belonged to a generation of heroes who brooked no compromise with principles. Such people’s lives are dramatic and epic. The man who passed away the day before yesterday in a Freiburg clinic was possessed of a wise maturity from a very early age, and until late in life he retained the militancy of youth. Kazantzakis was hospitalized in Freiburg after falling ill on a return flight from yet another visit to China and Japan. He had been suffering from leukemia for some time.