M. Karagatsis

M. Karagatsis (real name Dimitris Rodopoulos) was born in 1908 in Athens. The enigmatic initial "M." is said to derive from the name "Mitya," reflecting his admiration for Dostoevsky, particularly "The Brothers Karamazov," while "Karagatsis" comes from the elm tree (karagatsi) under which he used to sit and read as a child near the church of Rapsani. In 1924, he completed high school and went to Grenoble to study law, which he continued the following year at the University of Athens. In 1927, he participated in the first literary competition of "Nea Estia" with the short story "Mrs. Nitsa," which won the first commendation and was published in 1929 in a collective volume that included the award-winning stories of the competition ("The Deities of Kotylos," published by Estia Bookstore). With this short story, Karagatsis began his literary career and his long collaboration with "Nea Estia," where he published short stories, serialized novels, and translations. He passed away on September 14, 1960, at the age of 52, leaving unfinished "The 10," the novel he was working on at the time. The last sentence he managed to write, the last sentence of his life, was "Let me laugh."