TIMELINE
1911 – 1920
1911 2nd November: Odysseas Elytis was born in Iraklion, Crete, the youngest of six children, to Panagiotis Alepoudellis and Maria Vrana from Lesbos.
1914 Family moves to Athens, 98A Solonos Str.
1917 Attends the D.N. Makris School.
1918 Death of his sister, Myrsini.
1919 First of many summers on the island of Spetses.
1920 – 1930
1920 Following the fall of Venizelos, the family suffers privations.
1922 Following the Asia Minor catastrophe, the family aids refugees.
1923 Family trip to Europe: Switzerland, Germany, Italy.
1924 First publications under various pseudonyms.
1925 Death of his father.
1927 Turns decisively to literature.
1928 Discovers the poetry collection by Paul Éluard: L’ amour la poesie.
1930 - 1940
1930 Enters the Law School of the University of Athens. Begins regularly following the Nouvelle Revue Française.
1934 Writes “First Poems”, later included in his collection: Orientations.
1935 Meets Andreas Embirikos, Greek surrealist poet. Becomes part of the literary circle connected with the periodical Ta Nea Grammata (The New Letters) and published his first poems under the pseudonym Elytis.
1937 Military service, Academy for Reserve Officers in Corfu. Meets Lawrence Durrell.
1939 Abandons his law studies. Meets Henry Miller. Publication of his first Collection: Orientations.
1940 – 1950
1940 Serves as Second Lieutenant in the First Army Corps on the Albanian Front.
1941 Seriously ill with typhoid on the eve of the German Occupation of
Greece.
1943 Publication of his poetry collection: Sun the First.
1945 Publication of a French translation of his poems by Robert Levesque. Director of Programming for the National Broadcasting Institute (1945-1946).
1946 Art critic for the newspaper Kathimerini. Meets Paul Éluard.
1947 His poem Kindness in the Wolf Lairs is published in the periodical Little Note Book.
1948 Eventually manages to obtain a passport and leaves for Paris where he meets the Greek art editor E. Tériade and also associates with many poets and artists, such as Paul Éluard, Pierre-Jean Jouve, Pierre Reverdy, Henry Laurens, Joan Miró, Cristian Zervos, René Char, André Breton, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso. First visit to Villa Natacha (Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat). Participates in the Rencontres International, in Geneva.
1949 Participates in the Second Conference of the Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art, in Paris.
1950 – 1960
1950 In Paris he works on the first design of Axion Este. Meetings with Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Trip to London. Meetings with: Lucian Freud, John Lehman, and Nano Valaoritis.
1951 Speeches on the BBC. Trip to Italy. Meetings with: Mario Vitti, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Giorgio de Chirico. Upon his return to France, he writes the text "Equivalences chez Picasso" for Verve magazine. He returns to Greece.
1952 Elected member of the Group of Twelve. Translations of poems published in English by Kimon Friar, and Italian by Mario Vitti.
1953 Elected member of the Societé Européenne de Culture. Takes over as program director of the National Radio Foundation (1953-1954).
1955 Chairman of the Board of Directors of Greek Dance. He is translating Jean Giraudoux's Ondine for the National Theatre.
1956 He begins to work systematically at Axion Esti.
1957 The Art Theater stages Brecht's Chalk Circle in his translation. He is moving to a small apartment at 1 Pellinis Street.
1958 Meets Jean Genet and Gian Carlo Menotti.
1959 Translates Jean Genet's play Les Bonnes for the Art Theatre. He resigns from the Group of Twelve.
1960 – 1970
1960 Publication of his books The Axion Esti and Six and One Remorses for The Sky. Awarded State Prize for Poetry for The Axion Esti.
1961 Travels to the United States at the invitation of the State Department. Collaborates with Mikis Theodorakis on the musical setting of The Axion Esti. Meets Octavio Paz and Yves Bonnefoy.
1962 Moves to the apartment at 23 Skoufa Str., where he lives until the end of his life. Travels by invitation to the Soviet Union. Publication of his collection: Heroic and Elegiac Song for the Lost Second Lieutenant of Albania.
1964 The Axion Esti and Mikres Kyklades (Lesser Cyclades) set to music by Mikis Theodorakis.
1965 Visits Sofia at the invitation of the Society of Bulgarian Writers. Awarded the Order of the Phoenix by the King.
1966 Travels to the South of France and Paris. In Mougin, meets Pablo Picasso.
1967 Unable to work in the climate following the Coup d’ État of 21 April.
1969 Lives in France, primarily in Paris (1969-71). Publication of the German translation of the Axion Esti by Günter Dietz.
1970 – 1980
1970 Extended summer stay in Cyprus. Meets Archbishop Makarios.
1971 The Monogram is published in Brussels. He returns to Greece. Publication of The Light tree and the fourteenth Beauty.
1972 Publication of The Rs of Eros and The Sovereign Sun.
1973 Publication of the poem “Villa Natacha” with an original drawing by Picasso.
1974 Following the fall of the Military Dictatorship, he is appointed President of the Greek State Radio and Television. Publication of the volume of essays: Open Papers.
1975 Special issue of the periodical Books Abroad dedicated to his work.
1977 Refuses invitation to become a member of the Athens Academy.
1978 Honorary Doctorate from the School of Philosophy, University of Thessaloniki. Maria Nephele is published.
1979 Nobel Prize for Literature. His works are translated into Swedish, German, Spanish and Danish.
1980 - 1990
1980 Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Sorbonne. Visit to Spain at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Adolfo Suares. His works have been published in Spain, Romania, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Yugoslavia and Estonia.
1981 New translations of his work were made in Mexico, Hungary, Argentina, Italy, Finland, and France. Honorary Doctorate from the University of
London.
1982 Awarded Gold Medal of Honour by the Municipality of Athens. Publication of his collection: Three Poems under a Flag of Convenience. The New Theater of Belgium stages Marie des Brumes.
1983 Mytilene Maritime Company names a ship after him.
1984 Chair of Modern Greek Studies at Rutgers. University, New York, named after him. Publication of Journal of an Unseen April. Angelique Ionatos presents Marie Des Brumes in Paris.
1985 Publication of The Little Mariner. He was made Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters.
1986 Municipality of Mytilene names main street after him.
1987 Honorary Doctorate from the University of Rome. Honorary Doctorate from the University of Athens.
1988 Award from the Community of Mediterranean Universities.
Exhibition: “Odysseas Elytis, Un Méditerranéen Universel devoted to his work at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
1989 Made Commander of the Légion d’Honneur.
1990 - 1996
1990 Publication of two books: Things Private and Public and Private Way. Also, translations of his work appear in Poland, Argentina, Norway, France, Bulgaria, Italy, The Netherlands, The United States, Spain,
Sweden, Turkey. George Couroupos’ musical setting of The Little Mariner is performed by The Orchestra of Colours.
1991 Publication of a new poetry collection: The Oxopetra Elegies.
1992 Exhibition of his paintings at the Museum of Modern Art, Andros. Publication of a second volume of essays Carte Blanche.
1994 International conference on his work on the island of Kos, organized by the University of Ioannina.
1995 Publication of West of Sorrow and The Garden of Self-Delusions, with 49 illustrations.
1996 Works systematically on his new composite poem From Nearby (published posthumously). March 18: Dies in his apartment in Athens.