Kyriakos Charalambides ( el, Κυριάκος Χαραλαμπίδης, Kyriacos Charalambides) is one of the most renowned and celebrated living Cypriot poets. His poetry, essays, translations, and critical analysis celebrate the ideas of
Western civilisation
Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''.
image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
, expressed through the language and history of Greek culture. His poetic opus adds to the tradition established by such modern Greek poets as
Constantine P. Cavafy,
Giorgos Seferis
Giorgos or George Seferis (; gr, Γιώργος Σεφέρης ), the pen name of Georgios Seferiades (Γεώργιος Σεφεριάδης; March 13 – September 20, 1971), was a Greek poet and diplomat. He was one of the most important G ...
and
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis ( el, Οδυσσέας Ελύτης , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudellis, el, Οδυσσέας Αλεπουδέλλης; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as th ...
. His poetry though holds steadfastly to the Greek Cypriot linguistic register.
Biography
He was born on January 31, 1940, in
Achna
Achna ( el, Άχνα; tr, Düzce) is an abandoned village in the Famagusta District of Cyprus. It is just north of the Buffer Zone and it is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. After the 1974 Turkish invasion, its displaced i ...
, in the
Famagusta District of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
. He studied
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
at the
University of Athens
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...
(1958–64), drama at the Drama School of the Greek National Theater (1962–63) and radio in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
(1972–73).
After four years as a high school Greek literature teacher in Cyprus, he was appointed to the
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation ( gr, Ραδιοφωνικό Ίδρυμα Κύπρου , tr, Kıbrıs Radyo Yayın Kurumu), or CyBC (ΡΙΚ, KRYK), is Cyprus' public broadcasting service. It transmits island-wide on four radio and two domestic ...
where he served until 1997 as Head of Radio Programmes. In 2008, he has been elected by the Senate of the University of Cyprus to serve on its Council.
Works
He is the author of ten books of poetry:
* ''First Source''
�ρώτη Πηγή Athens, 1961.
* ''The ignorance of the water, with an introduction from Takis K. Papatsonis''
� άγνοια του νερού, με πρόλογο Τάκη K. Παπατσώνη Icarus: Athens, 1967
* ''The vase with designs''
�ο αγγείο με τα σχήματα Nicosia, 1973.
* ''The Achaeans’ Shore'
Αχαιών Ακτή Nicosia, 1977; 2nd edition, Agra: Athens, 2003.
* ''Famagusta Regal Capital'
Αμμόχωστος Βασιλεύουσα Hermes: Athens, 1982; Agra: Athens 1997.
* ''Dome'
Θόλος Hermes: Athens, 1989; 1991; Agra: Athens, 1998.
* ''Meta-history'
Μεθιστορία Agra: Athens, 1995; 2000.
* ''Dokimin'
Δοκίμιν Agra: Athens, 2000.
* ''Aiyaloussa Visited'
Agra: Athena, 2003.
* ''Quince Apple'
Κυδώνιον Μήλον Agra: Athens, 2006.
Awards
Three of his books were awarded the First State Prize for Poetry (Cyprus). His book "Tholos" (Dome) was awarded the Athens Academy Prize (1989) and his collection "Meta-history" was awarded the Greek National Prize for Poetry (1996).
In 1997 he published his own translation and introduction to Romanos the Melodist's "Three Hymns," which was awarded the Hellenic Society of Literary Translators Prize. He is also the recipient of the 1998 Cavafy Prize (Egypt).
In 2003 he was awarded the Costa and Eleni Ourani Award by the Athens Academy for his entire work in poetry. In 2006, he was awarded the Cultural Contribution Award of Teucros Anthias - Thodosis Pierides by the Cypriot political party, AKEL.
In 2007, he was awarded the Literary, Arts and Sciences Prize of the Republic of Cyprus.
Translations of Charalambides's work
Charalambides's work has been translated in many languages in various monographs:
*"Selected Poems" translated in English by Greg Delanty (Southworld Editions, the Munster Literature Center, Cork, Ireland, 200
*"Dome" translated in English by John Milides (National Center for Hellenic Studies and Research, La Trobe University, Australia 2002.
*"Hier, wo das Wunder nock Wirkt" translated in German from Hans Eideneier (Romiosini, Cologne 2000).
*"Methistoria" translated in French by Andreas Hadjisavvas with Francoise Becker, Michel Blanc and Francoise Gabenisch (Edition Praxandre, Besançon, France, 2007).
*"Ordens tyranni och andra dikter" translated in Swedish from Anna Maria Gull (Atlantis, Sweden, 2008, forthcoming).
*"Myth and History" translated in English by David Connoly (Nostos Books, Minneapolis, USA - 2010).
Books on Charalambides's work
*Michalis Tsianikas, "The name of Famagusta: A critical approach to 'Famagusta Regal Capital" Indiktos: Athens, 200
*Thedosis Pylarinos, "Metahistory" Herodotus: Athens, 2007.
*Special edition of the journa
"Porfyras"issue 124, Corfu, July–September, 2007.
*Special edition of the journal "Literary Themes
issue 12, July - October, 1999.
*Presentation in journal "The word", issue 163, May - July 2001.
Moreover, his work has been set to music by Chrysostomos Stamoulis, Notis Mavroudes, Michalis Christodoulides, Marios Tokas, Savvas Savva, Marios Meletiou and George Kalogyrou.
Reviews
Reviews of his work are published regularly in the Greek press. The most recent reviews include:
Review of his book ''Quince Apple'' in Greek daily ''Kathimerini'', 21 January 2007Review of his book ''Quince Apple'' in Greek daily ''Ta Nea'', 15 July 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charalambides, Kyriakos
1940 births
Living people
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni
Greek-language poets
Greek Cypriot poets
Cypriot schoolteachers
Expatriates in West Germany
People from Famagusta District