Amorgos

Nikos Gatsos was born in 1914 in Asea, Arcadia. When he came to Athens to register at the School of Philosophy, he could already speak fluent English and French. His first poems –which were short and had a classic approach- were published in the Nea Estia in 1931 and in Rithmo in 1933. Thereafter, he worked mainly with Nea Grammata, Kalitechnica Nea and Philologica Chronica, in which his review articles and notes were published. His exemplary poetry compilation, Amorgos, was published by Aetos in 1943. At the end of the war, he worked for the Anglo-Greek Review as a translator and for the National Radio Institute. He also started writing lyrics for Manos Chatzidakis’ music and in this way he marked contemporary Greek music. Later on, he worked with Mikis Theodorakis and other well-known composers. His ability to handle the language with such preciseness led the Arts Theatre, the National Theatre and the People’s Theatre to entrust him with the translation of many theatrical works – translations which remain “classic”. He was buried in Asea on May 12th 1992.