About Yiannis Ritsos
Yiannis Ritsos (Greek: Γιάννης Ρίτσος [ˈritsos]; 1 May 1909 – 11 November 1990) was a Greek poet and communist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II. While he disliked being regarded as a political poet, he has been called "the great poet of the Greek left". == Early life == Ritsos was born on 1 May 1909 to a well-to-do landowning family in Monemvasia. He suffered great losses as a child: his mother and eldest brother died early from tuberculosis, his father struggled with mental illness, and his famly was economically ruined. This marked Ritsos and affected his poetry. Ritsos himself was confined in a sanatorium for tuberculosis from 1927 to 1931. == Literary start == In 1934, Ritsos joined the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He maintained a working-class circle of friends and published Tractor in 1934. Kostis Palamas, the well known and respected poet, impressed by his talent, praised him publicly. In 1935, he published Pyramids; these two works sought to achieve a fragile balance between faith in the future, founded on the Communist ideal, and personal despair. Tractors and Pyramids initially were not well received by leftist critics, who found the language "too embellished" and Ritsos overly focused on form.
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