Andreas Empeirikos

Andreas Embirikos was born in 1901 in Brăila, Romania, and passed away in Athens in 1975. Between 1926 and 1931, he was in Paris, where he connected with André Breton and the surrealists and began psychoanalysis with René Laforgue. In 1935, he delivered the famous lecture on "Surrealism" in Athens and published "Ypsikaminos," the quintessential surrealist text, while beginning the practice of psychoanalysis, which he discontinued in 1951. In 1945, "Endochora" was published, followed by "Writings or Personal Mythology" in 1960 and "Argo or Balloon Journey" in 1964-65 in the magazine "Pali," with cuts. After his death, in 1980, the complete "Argo," the collection "Octana," and the play by Picasso, "The Four Little Girls," translated by the poet, were published. In 1985, "All Generations or Today as Tomorrow and as Yesterday" and "Armala or Introduction to a City" (an introduction to an unwritten novel) were released. In December 1990, according to the poet's wishes, "The Great Eastern," Andreas Embirikos's monumental life work, which he worked on for 25 years, began to be published. It started being written in 1945 and was completed after intermediate phases in 1970. The novel consists of 100 chapters, forming five parts, and its publication was completed in 1992 in eight volumes. It is considered the largest and most daring novel in the Greek language. In 1995, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the poet's death, a plaque with his poem "SSSR Russia" was published. In 1997, his unpublished prose "Zemphyra or The Secret of Pasiphae," belonging to the collection "The Charms of Love," which also includes "Argo," was released. In 1999, two encomiums for N. Engonopoulos were published independently: "Nikolaos Engonopoulos or The Miracle of Elbasan and the Bosphorus" and "Lecture 1963." Also, in 2001, his "Diary" and the poet's photographs from the trip to Russia in December 1962 with O. Elytis and G. Theotokas were published. Andreas Embirikos is one of the main introducers of the science of psychoanalysis in Greece, alongside D. Koureta and G. Zavitzianos, with the collaboration and support of Maria Bonaparte. He practiced psychoanalytic practice for sixteen years (1935-1951). Andreas Embirikos's psychoanalytic texts were published for the first time in 2001. Most of Andreas Embirikos's work is published by Agra Publications, which also released Hector Kaknavatos's text "For the Great Eastern" and Savvas Michael's study "Voyage and Return of the Great Eastern," as well as the critical essays by Guy (Michel) Saunier, titled "Andreas Embirikos: Mythology and Poetics." In 2001, the Year of Embirikos was declared to mark the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth, and many commemorative events were organized (conferences, publications in Greece and abroad, newspaper and magazine tributes, etc.). (Source: Agra Publications)