Kleitos-Dimitrios Kyrou (; 13 August 1921 – 10 April 2006) was a Greek poet and translator. He was born in Thessaloniki and he studied at Anatolia College. In 1939, he entered the Law School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He worked in banking between 1951 and 1983, and he was General Secretary of the National Theatre of Northern Greece between 1974 and 1976.Kleitos Kyrou, translatum.gr, retrieved on 11 December 2015
He made his first literary appearance in 1944, at the students' magazine Beginning, starting with translations of foreign, mainly English, poetry. His first published poem was Expectation (Προσμονή, published in the Thessaloniki magazine Student, issue no. 3, 5 May 1945). In 1949 he published his first book of poetry, titled Pursuit, Recollections from a doubtful era (Αναζήτηση, Αναμνήσεις μιας αμφίβολης εποχής). He collaborated with a plethora of magazines, like Beginning, Student, Free Letters, Diagonal, Our Century, Shell, New Course, Criticism and Parlour. His complete poetic works were published as In whole, 1943–1997 Harvest (Εν όλω, Συγκομιδή 1943–1997, Agra, 1997). In 1988 he was honoured with the Second State Award for Poetry, for his book The birds and the awakening (Τα πουλιά και η αφύπνιση), which he declined. In 1992, he was honoured by the Greek Society of Literary Translators for his translation of Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus and in 1994 he received the First State Award for Translation, for his translation of Percy Bysshe Shelley's tragedy The Cenci. In 2005, the Academy of Athens bestowed upon him the Kostas and Eleni Ourani Award, for the whole of his poetic oeuvre.
His poems have been translated in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Bulgarian and Arab.Biography, blog dedicated to Kleitos Kyrou, retrieved 2 December 2015.
He married Philio Angelidou in 1969. His children were Eleni (born 1970) and Giorgos (born 1971).
He died on 10 April 2006 in his own home.
Bibliography
Poetry Source: Pursuit, Recollections from a doubtful era (Αναζήτηση, Αναμνήσεις μιας αμφίβολης εποχής), Thessaloniki, Th. Graikopoulos, 1949 On first person (Σε πρώτο πρόσωπο), Thessaloniki, 1957 Night screams (Κραυγές της νύχτας), Thessaloniki, 1960 Key numbers (Κλειδάριθμοι), Thessaloniki, E. Sfakianakis, 1963 Apology (Απολογία), Thessaloniki, 1966 (second and supplemented edition, Thessaloniki, 1976) The constructions 1949–1974 (Οι κατασκευές 1949–1974), Athens, Kedros, 1980 The birds and the awakening (Τα πουλιά και η αφύπνιση), Athens, Nepheli, 1987 Parole season and other poems (Περίοδος χάριτος και άλλα ποιήματα), Thessaloniki, Cheirographa, 1992 The earlier word (Ο πρωθύστερος λόγος), Thessaloniki, Aigeiros, 1996 In whole, 1943–1997 Harvest (Εν όλω, Συγκομιδή 1943–1997, complete works), Athens, Agra, 1997
Prose Setbacks. Life memoir (Οπισθοδρομήσεις. Αναδρομή ζωής) 2001, autobiography
Translations Source:
Poetry Modern English poets, Thessaloniki, 1945 Ode to Salvador Dalí and Ode to Walt Whitman, by Federico García Lorca (translated with Manolis Anagnostakis), Thessaloniki, 1948 Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, by Federico García Lorca, Thessaloniki, Poetic Art, 1950 The Pot of Earth, by Archibald MacLeish, Thessaloniki, New Course, 1958 Belt, by Guillaume Apollinaire, Thessaloniki, New Course, 1962 Ash Wednesday, by T. S. Eliot, Thessaloniki, Diagonal, 1965 Prose of the Trans-Siberian and of Little Jehanne of France, by Blaise Cendrars and Sonia Delaunay, Athens, Diphros, 1965 Poems, by Guillaume Apollinaire (translated with Fani Kiskira and Tolis Kazantzis), Thessaloniki, Diagonal, 1967 Ash Wednesday and Ariel Poems, by T. S. Eliot, Thessaloniki, 1971 Poems, by W. H. Auden, Thessaloniki, 1971 Poems, by Archibald MacLeish, 1973 Foreign voices, Athens, Kedros, 1979 Four Quartets, by T. S. Eliot, Thessaloniki, Diagonal, 1981 Burnt Norton, by T. S. Eliot, Athens, Athens School of Fine Arts, 1988 Ash Wednesday - Ariel Poems - Four Quartets, by T. S. Eliot, Athens, Roptron, 1988 The Waste Land, by T. S. Eliot, Athens, Ypsilon, 1990
Theatre When Five Years Pass, by Federico García Lorca, 1962 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, by John Ford, Athens, Nepheli, 1986 Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, Athens, Agra, 1990 The Cenci, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Athens, Agra, 1993
References