Nikos Kazantzakis
| Nikos Kazantzakis | |
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| Born |
18 February 1883 Heraklion, Crete, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) |
| Died | 26 October 1957 (aged 74) Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany (now Germany) |
| Occupation | Poet, novelist, essayist, philosopher, playwright, travel writer |
| Nationality |
 Greek |
| Alma mater |
University of Athens (1902–1906; LL.D., 1906) University of Paris (1907–1909; Dr, 1909) |
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Nikos Kazantzakis (Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης [ˈnikos kaˈzandzacis]; 18 February 1883 – 26 October 1957) was a Greek writer, celebrated for his novels, which include Zorba the Greek (published 1946 as Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas), Christ Recrucified (1948), Captain Michalis (1950, translated 'Freedom or Death), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1955). He also wrote plays, travel books, memoirs and philosophical essays such as The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises.
Universally recognised as a giant of modern Greek literature, Kazantzakis was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years.
His fame was further spread in the English speaking world by cinematic adaptations of Zorba the Greek (1964) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
When Kazantzakis was born in 1883 in Heraklion, Crete had not yet joined the modern Greek state, (which had been established in 1832) and was still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. From 1902 to 1906 Kazantzakis studied law at the University of Athens: his 1906 Juris Doctor thesis title was Ο Φρειδερίκος Νίτσε εν τη φιλοσοφία του δικαίου και της πολιτείας ("Friedrich Nietzsche on the Philosophy of Right and the State"). Then he went to the Sorbonne in 1907 to study philosophy. There he fell under the influence of Henri Bergson. His 1909 doctoral dissertation at the Sorbonne was a reworked version of his 1906 dissertation under the title Friedrich Nietzsche dans la philosophie du droit et de la cité ("Friedrich Nietzsche on the Philosophy of Right and the State"). Upon his return to Greece, he began translating works of philosophy. In 1914 he met Angelos Sikelianos. Together they travelled for two years in places where Greek Orthodox Christian culture flourished, largely influenced by the enthusiastic nationalism of Sikelianos.
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