About Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis (; Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης [ˈnikos kazanˈd͡zakis]; 2 March [OS 18 February] 1883 – 26 October 1957) was a Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years, and remains the most translated Greek author worldwide. Kazantzakis's novels include Zorba the Greek (published in 1946 as Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas), Christ Recrucified (1948), Captain Michalis (1950, translated as 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. His fame spread in the English-speaking world due to cinematic adaptations of Zorba the Greek (1964) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). He also translated a number of notable works into Modern Greek, such as the Divine Comedy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, On the Origin of Species, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. While in Berlin, where the political situation was explosive, Kazantzakis discovered communism and became an admirer of Vladimir Lenin. In 1945 Kazantzakis became the leader of a small party on the non-communist left, and entered the Greek government as Minister without Portfolio.
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