Angelos Terzakis | terzakis

Angelos D. Terzakis

Angelos Terzakis is a major Greek novelist, playwright and essayist. He is a member of the so-called "1930s generation" that brought an air of renewal to Greek letters.

Terzakis was born in Nafplio on February 16, 1907, and was the son of the mayor of the city Demetrios Terzakis. (Right: The Terzakis statue in Nafplio.) In 1915 he moved with the rest of his family to Athens, when his father was elected to the parliament as a member of the Liberal Party. Terzakis studied law at Athens University, received his Ph.D. at a very young age and followed a law career while he started to write.

In 1931 he published two collections of short stories, including "The Forgotten One" and his first novel, "Prisoners,” in 1932. It was then that he decided to leave the legal profession and devote himself to writing. In 1936 he married Louisa Vogasari and two years later they had their only child, Dimitri, who became a classical composer and now lives in Germany (photos right).

In 1937 he published his first major novel "Purple City” (right), which captured the life in Athens between the two world wars. Most of Terzakis’ writings were urban novels depicting life in Greek society after the Asia Minor Catastrophe. Key features of his work are the depressing climate, stifling atmosphere, the victims of economic scarcity and social prejudices and general pessimism.

Soon after "Purple City” he released his first play, the historical drama “Emperor Michael” (right) which was a great success and earned him the appointment of general secretary of the National Theatre of Greece. He served NTG in various capacities until 1971.

In 1940 he enlisted in the Greek army and fought against the Italians on the Albanian front, where he remained until the end of the war. In 1945 he published his historical novel "Princess Isambo,” considered one of the greatest novels of modern Greek literature.

In the early '50s Terzakis attended film courses in Italy and in 1954 directed the film “Night Adventure," with music by Manos Hadjidakis. The film, which was based on the "Purple City" novel, was written and directed by Terzakis. (For further information, see Photos/Media section.)

After WWII, Terzakis wrote for the newspapers Kathimerini and To Vima and edited the magazine Seasons, which made important contributions to Greek literature until it ceased publication because of the dictatorship of the colonels in 1967.

In 1958, along with authors Dimitri Karagatsis, Elias Venezis and Stratis Myrivilis, he authored "The Novel of the Four," which was published serially in the newspaper Acropolis in March and April, 1958.

Terzakis was honored with the First Prize of the National Greek Theatre for his social drama “Helots” (1938) and the tragedy of "The Cross and the Sword" (1939 ). He also won the First National Prize for the his novel "Secret Life," the Prize of the Group of 12 for the collection of essays "Orientation Century" (1963) and the prize for Excellence in Literature of the Academy of Athens for the theatrical study "The Mystery of Iago" (1969). His works have been translated into such languages as English, German , Russian, Swedish, etc. In 1974 he was selected to join the Academy of Athens (photo right).

He died in Athens on August 3, 1979.

Selected works

Novels

Prisoners (Δεσμώτες, 1932)

The Decay of the Tough Ones (Η παρακμή των Σκληρών, 1933)

The Purple City (Η Μενεξεδένια Πολιτεία, 1937)

Princess Isambo (Η πριγκηπέσσα Ιζαμπώ, 1945)

Journey with Esperus (Ταξίδι με τον Έσπερο, 1946)

The Twilight of Men (Το λυκόφως των ανθρώπων, 1947)

Without God (Δίχως Θεό, 1951)

The Secret Life (Η μυστική ζωή, 1957)

The Novel of the Four (Το Μυθιστόρημα των Τεσσάρων, 1958)