Minas Dimakis

Minas Dimakis (1913-1980). Minas Dimakis was born in Heraklion, Crete, the son of merchant Georgios Dimakis and Maria, née Metaxaki. After his father's death in 1917, his mother married Athanasios Spanoudakis. From his mother's second marriage, Minas gained a half-sister, Aikaterini, and a stepsister, Eleonora. His mother passed away in 1921. From 1919 to 1924, he attended the private high school "O Korais," and in 1930, he graduated from the First Six-Class Gymnasium of Heraklion. Until 1936, he initially worked in his father's brothers' businesses, who were raisin merchants, and later as an employee at the Heraklion Tourism Office. In 1935, he published the first issue of the magazine "Fylla Technis," a result of his sole effort, where he published poems and translations. The magazine released only four issues until 1937, when the poet was appointed to the Heraklion branch of the Bank of Greece. In 1943, he was transferred to Athens and participated in the operations of the National Liberation Front (EAM). In 1939, he published his first poetry collection titled "Lost Land" and the study "The Last of the Tradition," both in Heraklion. In 1959, he left his position at the bank to devote himself to literature. He collaborated with the newspaper "Mesimvrini," publishing critical essays on literature (1966-1967), and served as the director of the newspaper "Kritika Nea." Dimakis's first poetry collection, "Lost Land," was published in 1939. His consistent focus on metaphysical anxiety and the expression of the terror caused by a hostile and hopeless world, a tendency that intensified in his later works, was marked by his collection "We Burned Our Ships," published in 1946. He also engaged in literary translations, studies, and essays, and gave lectures on figures such as Cavafy, Kazantzakis, Kalvos, Sikelianos, and modern poetry. Dimakis's philosophical anxiety also marked his life. He committed suicide by jumping from the rooftop of the apartment building where he lived on Anagnostopoulou Street at the age of sixty-seven. He was honored with the Second State Poetry Prize (1957), the First State Poetry Prize (1961), and the First State Essay Prize (1975). His works have been translated into many foreign languages. For more biographical details on Minas Dimakis, see Ilias Simopoulos, "Dimakis Minas," in the "Great Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature," vol. 6, Athens, Haris Patsis, n.d.; Ch. L., "Work Biography of Minas Dimakis: The Passage of Minas Dimakis," Athens, Ursa Minor/Efthyni, 1983; "Dimakis Minas" in the "World Biographical Dictionary," vol. 3, Athens, Ekdotiki Athinon, 1985; and Alexis Ziras, "Dimakis Minas," in the "Dictionary of Modern Greek Literature," Patakis Editions, Athens, 2007. (Source: Archive of Greek Authors, EKEBI).