Takis Sinopoulos

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

Takis Sinopoulos (Epitalio, Εliσ, March 17, 1917 – April 25, 1981) was a Greek poet and writer, part of the first post-war generation of modern Greek literature. His intellectual and artistic work was deeply influenced by the difficult years of the Occupation and the Civil War.

He was born in Agoulinitsa and was the first of four children of philologist Giorgos Sinopoulos and Rousa-Veneta Argyropoulou. He studied medicine at the University of Athens and graduated in 1944. In 1934, under the pseudonym Argyros Roubanis, he published the poem Betrayal and the short story The Revenge of a Humble Man in the Pyrgos newspaper Nea Imera.

During the Greco-Italian War of 1941, he was drafted as a medical sergeant, and later during the Greek Civil War, he served as a military doctor with the rank of reserve second lieutenant. During the Occupation, he was imprisoned for a short time by the Italians due to his resistance activities, tried in a military court in Tripoli, and acquitted.

After completing his medical studies in 1944, and following his discharge from the army in 1949, he settled permanently in Athens and worked as a general practitioner for the Social Insurance Institute (IKA).

His first poetry collection, Metaichmio (Threshold), was published in 1951, followed by several others, including Songs (1953), Meeting with Max (1956), Helen (1957), Metaichmio II (1957), The Night and the Counterpoint (1959), The Song of Joanna and Constantine (1961), The Poetry of Poetry (1964), Funeral Banquet (1972), The Chronicle (1975), The Map (1977), and Nightlog (1978). His work was compiled in two collected volumes: Collected Poems I, 1951–1964 and Collected Poems II, 1965–1980. In the final stage of his life, The Grey Light (1982) and Poems for Anna (1999) were published.

In 1962, he was awarded the Second State Poetry Prize for his collection The Song of Joanna and Constantine.

Involvement and Activities:

He was part of the editorial teams of 18 Texts, New Texts 1–2, Testimony ’73, and the magazine The Continuation. He contributed to many periodicals, such as Nea Estia, Philological Chronicles, Odysseus (Pyrgos), Kochlias, Piraeus Letters, Anglo-Hellenic Review, New Era, Zygos, Epochs, Tram, and O Tachydromos, among others. His poetry was influenced by major poets such as T.S. Eliot, George Seferis, and Ezra Pound. In his later years, his poetic language took a turn toward a more anti-poetic, aggressive, and often ironic tone.

He also published critical essays and studies on poets, including important works on George Seferis—such as Strophe (1961)—and others, contributing to the renewal of poetic discourse in Greece.

In addition to his literary work, Sinopoulos had a strong artistic side and was active as a painter. He first exhibited his art at the Zygos Gallery in 1960 and participated in the Panhellenic Exhibitions of 1963 and 1965.

Resistance and the Dictatorship:

During the Greek military dictatorship (1967–1974), he contributed to the publication of resistance texts such as 18 Texts, New Texts 1–2, and Testimony '73. In Easter 1974, when he attempted to travel to Cyprus, the authorities of the regime confiscated his passport due to his involvement in the "Panhellenic Committee of Democratic Struggle."

Death and Legacy:

Takis Sinopoulos died of cardiac arrest on April 25, 1981—Holy Saturday—at a hotel in Pyrgos, Ilia, at the age of 64. He had felt unwell shortly before, prompting his departure from the home of his friend, painter Daniil Panagopoulos, in Katakolo.

He was married to Maria Dota, a professor of English literature, who in 1995 donated his house to the municipality of Nea Ionia. It was transformed into the “Modern Greek Poetry Study Center” and now houses the Takis Sinopoulos Foundation. His bust, created by sculptor Dimitrios Armakolas, was unveiled in 2006 in the square in front of his home on Takis Sinopoulos Street in Perissos.

Works

Poetry

Metaichmio (1951)

Songs (1953)

Meeting with Max (1956)

Helen, Difros (1957)

The Night and the Counterpoint (1959)

Metaichmio II (1957)

The Song of Joanna and Constantine (1961)

The Poetry of Poetry (1964)

Funeral Banquet (1970)

Stones (1972)

The Chronicle (1975)

The Map (1977)

Nightlog (1978)

Collected Poems I, 1951–1964 (1976)

Collected Poems II, 1965–1980 (1980)

The Grey Light (1982)

Poems for Anna (1999)

Essays

Four Essays on Seferis (1984)

Metaichmio (1984)

Chronicle of Readings (1999, anthology of his critical writings)

Translations

Landscape of Death: The Selected Poems of Takis Sinopoulos, trans. K. Friar (1979) [Greek & English texts]

Selected Poems, trans. J. Stathatos (1981)