Ektor Kaknavatos

The surrealist poet of the first post-war generation, Hector Kaknavatos (pen name of Giorgos Kontogiorgis), was born in Piraeus in September 1920, where he completed his early education. He studied mathematics at the University of Athens. He made his literary debut in 1943 with the publication of the poetry collection "Fugue." Between this and his second work ("Diaspora," 1961), he experienced the era's turmoil: he participated in the National Resistance as a member of the EAM, was imprisoned, and exiled during the Civil War. After Liberation in 1947, he was exiled to Ikaria and later transferred to Makronisos in the fall of the same year. He was released in 1949 following the defeat of the Democratic Army. From 1958 to 1962, he worked in Syros, where he established his own tutoring center. He also taught at university preparatory schools in Athens from 1963 to 1973. In 1973, he taught at the Moraitis School. In 1979, he was appointed to a public sector position for the first time, having been previously excluded due to his political beliefs. He retired in 1986. Hector Kaknavatos' poems ingeniously combine surrealism with political poetry, heavily influenced by mathematics and chaos theory. His poetic work remained consistent and unwavering in its intentions. He published the collections: "Fugue" (1943), "Diaspora" (1961), "The Stone's Scale" (1977), "Four-Digit" (1971), "Four-Digit with the Seventh String" (1972), "Narration" (1974), "Street of the Laestrygonians" (1978), "Circe's Knives" (1981), "Resurrection of the Legend for the City's Kidneys" (1981), "In Perpetuum" (1983), "Gearbox" (1987), which were compiled into two volumes in 1990 by Agra Publications ("Poems 1943-1974" and "Poems 1978-1987"), and reissued in a single volume in July 2010, "The Oars of Menestheus Kastelanos of Mystras" (1995), "Chaotic I" (1997), "Instantly" (2001), "Towering Neoplasms" (2001), and "To the Faces of Roar" (2005), along with the essay volume "Short and Long: On Poetry: Language and Speech" (2005). He passed away "full of days" on November 8, 2010, at the age of 90.