Tribute to Yiannis Ritsos

Vassilis Papakonstantinou, Glykeria, Christos Thiveos, Maria Farantouri and Grigoris Valtinos meet at Eleftheria Stadium in Nicosia on the 26th of January for a tribute to Yiannis Ritsos, one of the greatest Greek poets of the twentieth century.

Yiannis Ritsos was born 100 years ago (1909) in Monemvasia, Greece. Beginning as a follower of the updated demotic tradition, Ritsos went through a phase of militant, doctrinaire poetry, as in Trakter [Tractors] (1934) and O Epitaphios [Funeral Procession] (1936) – a work symbolically burned by the fascist government of Metaxas at the foot of the Acropolis. During the Nazi Occupation of Greece (1941-1944) and the subsequent Civil War (1946-1949), Ritsos fought with the communist guerillas; after their defeat he was arrested and spent four years in prison camps. In the 1950s O Epitaphios, set to music by Mikis Theodorakis, became the anthem of the Greek left.

Despite all his misfortunes, Ritsos eventually achieved a personal, humanitarian medium devoid of anger and recrimination. In long poems like his celebrated Romiosyni (1947), Moonlight Sonata (1956) and most of his later volumes, Ritsos writes with compassion and hope, celebrating the life, toil, and dignity of the common man in an unadorned and direct language. In 1967, Ritsos was arrested again by the Greek junta and exiled, and was prohibited from publishing until 1972. By the end of his life, and contrary to all odds, Ritsos had published 117 books, including numerous plays and essays.

The event is part of the celebrations for the 65 years of EDON (AKEL Youth).