Giorgos THemelis

Giorgos Themelis (1900-1976). Giorgos Themelis was born in Samos. He studied philology at the University of Athens. From 1930, he settled in Thessaloniki, where he worked as a philology teacher in Public Education and at the Drama School of the State Conservatory. He made his literary debut in 1922 with the publication of poems in the magazine "Monthly Review of Samos." He was a member of Thessaloniki's magazines "Macedonian Days" (1932-1939, where in 1936 he published his first free verse poem) and "Kochlias" (1946-1948), and collaborated with literary magazines such as "Morphes," "Art and Life," "Horizons," "Free Letters," "New Course," "Our Century," and "Anglo-Hellenic Review." In 1945, his first poetry collection titled "Naked Window" was published. He released numerous poetry collections, literary translations, plays, and essays. He was awarded the First Prize in the short story competition of "New Estia" (1927), the Second State Poetry Prize (1956), the First State Poetry Prize (1962), and the Thessaloniki Municipality Prize (1960). He was a founding member of the Thessaloniki Literary Society. His translations of Strindberg's "Creditors" and Chekhov's "Swan Song" were staged at the National Theatre of Northern Greece in 1968, and Aeschylus's "Prometheus Bound" in 1970. He passed away in Thessaloniki. For more biographical details on Giorgos Themelis, see Alex. Argyriou, "Giorgos Themelis," in "Greek Poetry: Modernist Poets of the Interwar Period," pp. 198-200 (introduction) and 284-286 (anthology), Athens, Sokolis, 1979. Alex. Argyriou, "Themelis Giorgos," in "World Biographical Dictionary," vol. 4. Athens, Ekdotiki Athinon, 1985. Stelios Geranis, "Themelis Giorgos," in "Great Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature," vol. 7. Athens, Haris Patsis, n.d. (Source: Archive of Greek Writers, EKEVI).