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George Seferis (1900 – 1971) George Seferis (Georgios Seferiades) George Seferis (Georgios Seferiades) was born in Smyrna (Izmir), Turkey in 1900. Seferis started to compose poems at the age of 14. He and his family moved in 1914 to Athens, where he graduated from the First Classical Gymnasium in 1917. When his family moved to Paris in 1918, Seferis studied law at the University of Paris and became interested in literature. He returned to Athens in 1925 and was admitted to the Royal Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the following year. This was the beginning of a long and successful diplomatic career. He was Royal Greek Ambassador to the United Kingdom, the last post before his retirement in Athens. In his lifetime, Seferis received many honours and awards. He was and is one of the most well known Greek poets, the first Greek Nobel laureate. He died in Athens in 1971. He received the Nobel prize for his poetry in 1963 ( Elytis received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1979). Seferis was once acclaimed as "the poet of the future". In addition to poetry, Seferis published a book of essays, translations of works by T.S. Eliot, and a collection of translations from American, English, and French poets. Selections of his poetry have been widely translated. Seferis was the most distinguished Greek poet of "the generation of the 1930s". The Greek poet, essayist, diplomat and Nobel Laureate died in Athens in 1971. Check that you understand what these words mean in this document To compose: to write. Retirement: when you leave your job and stop working because you are old. Acclaimed: publicly recognised. Distinguished: admired, noteworthy. For further information visit: George Seferis Modern Greek Poetry