Dimitris P. Papaditsas (; 1922–1987) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

poet.

Biography

Dimitris P. Papaditsas was born in

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

, in 1922, son of an army officer. He studied medicine at the

University of Athens 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 ...

, graduating in 1958. He continued with his studies, focusing in

orthopedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

, in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Between 1943 and 1947 he worked for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, and between 1951 and 1967 he was physician and orthopedic surgeon in several hospitals in Athens and other provincial Greek cities. In 1976, he moved 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 ...

and became director of the National Greek Institute of Rehabilitation. He was founder of the ''Primal Matter'' (''Πρώτη Ύλη''), 1958–1959, along with Epameinondas Ch. Gonatas, and collaborated in other literary magazines such as ''Youth Voice'' (''Νεανική Φωνή''), ''New Hestia'' (''Νέα Εστία''), ''The Target'' (''Ο Στόχος''), among others. He received twice the First State Award for Poetry for ''Poetry I'' (''Ποίηση Ι'') in 1963 and for ''Δυοειδή λόγο'' in 1980. In 1983 he was awarded the Athens' Academy Award for ''Ασώματη''. His work is unique amidst the generation raised during the war in displaying a pronounced lyrical tendency, and a repertory of autonomous images reminiscent of

Pierre Reverdy Pierre Reverdy (; 13 September 1889 – 17 June 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual app ...

. During the

Axis occupation of Greece during World War II The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategic ...

, he participated in the regular meetings hosted by

Andreas Embirikos Andreas Embirikos (; ''Andréas Empeiríkos''; September 2, 1901 – August 3, 1975) was a Greek surrealist poet, writer, photographer, and one of the first Greek psychoanalysts. As a writer, he emerged from the Generation of the '30s and i ...

and his wife Matsi Hatzilazarou hold in their house along with

Nikos Engonopoulos Nikos Engonopoulos (; October 21, 1907 – October 31, 1985) was a Greek painter and poet. He is one of the most important members of "Generation of the '30s", as well as a major representative of the surrealist movement in Greece. His work a ...

Odysseas Elytis Odysseas Elytis (; , pen name of Odysseas Alepoudelis, ; 2 November 1911 – 18 March 1996) was a Greek poet, man of letters, essayist and translator, regarded as the definitive exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. He is one ...

Nikos Gatsos Nikos Gatsos (; 8 December 1911 – 12 May 1992) was a Greek poet, translator and lyricist. Biography According to Harvard University, he "had a profound influence on the post-war generation of Greek poets. Writing of both loss and hope, Gatsos� ...

Miltos Sachtouris Miltos Sachtouris (: July 29, 1919, Athens – March 29, 2005, Athens) was a Greek poet. He was a descendant of Georgios Sachtouris, whose origins were the Island of Ydra. When he was young he abandoned his law studies to follow his real passio ...

, Epameinondas Ch. Gonatas, Ektor Kaknavatos,

Nanos Valaoritis Ioannis (Nanos) Valaoritis (; 5 July 1921 – 12 September 2019) was a Greek writer, widely published as a poet, novelist and playwright since 1939; his correspondence with George Seferis (''Allilographia 1945-1968'', Ypsilon, Athens 2004) was a ...

, Yorgos V. Makris, among other writers. Being close to Epameinondas Ch. Gonatas and Ektor Kaknavatos, he cultivated the vein of a lyrical

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, which after his first two books became increasingly mild, whereas his work assumed explicitly

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

overtones from then on. Papaditsas died in Athens.

References

Greek male poets 1922 births 1987 deaths National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni 20th-century Greek poets 20th-century Greek male writers People from Samos Greek expatriates in Germany {{Greece-poet-stub