Kostis Palamas, one of the most prolific Greek writers, was born in Patras on January 13, 1859. In 1897 he was appointed secretary at the University of Athens, and in the same year, he began publishing his most significant poetry collections and compositions, such as "Iambs and Anapaests" (1897), "Still Life" (1904), "The Twelve-Word Speech of the Gypsy" (1907), "The Flute of the King" (1910).

In 1918, he was awarded the National Prize for Letters and Arts, and from 1926 he became a core member of the Academy of Athens, serving as its president in 1930. He passed away on February 27, 1943, after a serious illness. His funeral became historic, as amidst astonished German occupiers and thousands of people, he was accompanied to his final resting place at the First Cemetery of Athens, with the national anthem being sung.

He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 14 times (1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1940).