Title of the sculpture: Giorgos Seferis

Location: 2 Zalokosta St, Syntagma

Construction: 2001

Material: Brass

Sculptor: Theodoros Papagiannis

Description: Brass bust on a marble pedestal. The poet holds a pen in his right hand.

A few words about the Poet: Giorgos Seferis (1900 - 1971), a member of the literary generation of the 1930s, was a Greek diplomat and poet. He appeared in Greek letters in 1931 with the poetry collection Strofi (Turn). The complete renewal of his poetic writing began with Mythistorima (Novel) in 1935, where, influenced by Anglo-Saxon modernism (Eliot, Pound), he abandoned rhyme and meter and created his own personal style in free verse. He studies history and literature in depth. His poetry, pessimistic and melancholic, is distinguished by the simplicity of its expressive means and its calm and low tone and reflects the poet's anxieties. The destruction of Smyrna and the Hellenism of Asia Minor, the uprooting of refugees, the two world wars, left their mark on his poetry. Today he is considered one of the most prominent Greek poets, who opened new horizons in modern Greek poetry. The Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963 was a recognition of his poetic merit.

A few words about the Sculptor: The sculptor Theodoros Papagiannis (b. 1942) was elected associate professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts in 1987 and in 1991 he became a full professor at the same school. For the last 17 years, as Director of the A' Sculpture Workshop, he has been a leading figure in the organization of Sculpture Symposiums in many cities of Greece and Cyprus, creating large sculptures for public space. He has been awarded the First Prize in the competition for the National Resistance Monument (Volos 1985) and the First Prize in the competition for the Monument of the Polytechnic Uprising (Ioannina 1985).

Sources:
Politis, L. (2017). History of Modern Greek Literature. Athens: M.I.E.T. (NBG Cultural Foundation) p. 282, 287, 288
Antonopoulou, Z. (2003). The sculptures of Athens: Open Air Sculpture 1834 - 2004. Athens: Potamos.