Demetrios Capetanakis or Kapetanakis or Capetanaces (; 22 January 1912 in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

– 9 March 1944 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a Greek poet, essayist, and critic. For the last five years of his life (1939-1944) he lived in Britain and associated with the

Bloomsbury Set The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, ...

, wrote some poetry in English.

Biography

Demetrios Capetanakis was born on 22 January 1912 in the port of

or Izmir (then in the Ottoman Empire, now in Turkey). His father worked in the port as a doctor. In 1922 his father died, and in the same year he came to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, when his mother fled the

Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

with her three children. He was a graduate in political science and economics from

Athens University The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, where he was taught by

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos or Panayotis Kanellopoulos (; 13 December 1902 – 11 September 1986) was a Greek writer, politician and Prime Minister of Greece. He was the Prime Minister of Greece deposed by the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. ...

(whom he would encounter again in the

Greek government in exile The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based first in South Africa, then London, then, fi ...

in London). Afterwards he became a Doctor of Philosophy at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

(1934). In Germany he became interested in the ideas of Stefan George, which he ultimately rejected as a forerunner of Nazism. In Greece he had several philosophic studies published - including one on The Struggle of the Solitary Soul and one on The Mythology of Beauty - as well as translations of poems by Holderlin (1938). In 1939 with a scholarship from the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

he came to Britain, to study at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

under

Dadie Rylands George Humphrey Wolferstan Rylands (23 October 1902 – 16 January 1999), known as Dadie Rylands, was a British literary scholar and theatre director. Rylands was born at the Down House, Tockington, Gloucestershire, to Thomas Kirkland R ...

. He became a protégé of the poet

Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964) was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess ...

. In 1941 he met the poet and publisher

John Lehmann Rudolf John Frederick Lehmann (2 June 1907 – 7 April 1987) was an English publisher, poet and man of letters. He founded the periodicals '' New Writing'' and ''The London Magazine'', and the publishing house of John Lehmann Limited. Early ...

, who published Capetanakis in ''New Writing'' and became a close friend. Through Lehmann he met

William Plomer William Charles Franklyn Plomer (10 December 1903 – 20 September 1973) was a South African and British novelist, poet and literary editor. He also wrote a series of librettos for Benjamin Britten. He wrote some of his poetry under the pseud ...

. For a short period he went to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

to help a team of the

Friends Ambulance Unit The Friends' Ambulance Unit (FAU) was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by individual members of the British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), in line with their Peace Testimony. The FAU operated from 1914 to 1919, 1939 to 1946 and ...

prepare for relief work in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

as soon as that country should be liberated from

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation; he was supported by

Elizabeth Cadbury Dame Elizabeth Mary Cadbury (' Taylor; 24 June 1858 – 4 December 1951) was a British activist, politician and philanthropist. Her husband was George Cadbury, the chocolate manufacturer. Early life Born in Peckham Rye, Southwark, Surrey, she ...

. In 1942 he was diagnosed with leucaemia. He died in London on 9 March 1944 at

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

, and was buried at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

. Three years after Capetanakis's death John Lehmann collected his poems and essays and published them as ''Demetrios Capetanakis A Greek Poet In England'' (1947). This slim book contains sixteen English poems by Capetanakis, two verse translations by him from Prevelakis and one from Elytis and eleven of his essays - 'The Greeks Are Human Beings', 'Ghika', 'Rimbaud', 'Stefan George', 'A Lecture On Proust', 'Dostoevsky', 'Thomas Gray And Horace Walpole', 'A View Of English Poetry', 'Notes On Some Contemporary Writers', 'Charlotte Brontë' and 'An Introduction To Modern Greek Poetry'. These are accompanied by an Introduction by John Lehmann and tributes by Edith Sitwell ('The Poetry Of Demetrios Capetanakis'), P. Canellopoulos ('My Friend Demetrios Capetanakis') and William Plomer ('A Recollection') and a portrait photograph by Hans Wild. The English poet and teacher Charles Causley (1917-2003) subtitled his poem 'Master and Pupil' "On a theme of Demetrios Capetanakis". 'Three poems of Demetrios Capetanakis' were set to music for voice and piano by Ned Rorem (1968). An archive of Capetanakis's manuscripts and correspondence is kept at the

American School of Classical Studies at Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federat ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capetanakis, Demetrios Greek male poets 1912 births 1944 deaths Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Smyrniote Greeks National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit Greek expatriates in the United Kingdom 20th-century Greek poets 20th-century Greek male writers Deaths from leukemia in England Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece

Biography

Further reading

Notes