Kostas Varnalis

Kostas Varnalis studied at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Zariphios School. The recorded working language is French and Greek. The field of work recorded is literature. Places of work recorded in the authority are Burgas, Athens and Amaliada. Residence is recorded at Pangrati, Athens. Employment is recorded with National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Distinctions recorded are Lenin Peace Prize.

• Name — Kostas Varnalis • Born — 14 February 1884 • Birthplace — Burgas, Eastern Rumelia, Ottoman Empire • Died — 16 December 1974 • Place of death — Athens, Greece • Education — University of Athens • Occupation — Poet, journalist • Awards — Lenin Peace Prize

• Illustration — Commemorative plaque of Kostas Varnalis in his native city Burgas, Bulgaria Varnalis was born in Burgas, Eastern Rumelia (now in Bulgaria), in 1884. As his name suggests, his family originated from Varna; his father's family name was Boubous. He completed his elementary studies in the Zariphios Greek high school in Plovdiv and then moved to Athens in 1902 to study literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. While there, he became involved in the Greek language dispute, taking the side of the demoticists over the supporters of the katharevousa. After his graduation in 1908 he worked for some time as a teacher in Burgas, before returning to Greece and teaching in Amaliada and Athens. During the next years, he worked as a teacher and part-time journalist, also engaging in translation work. In 1913, he took part in the Second Balkan War. In 1919 he gained a scholarship and travelled to Paris where he studied philosophy, literature and sociology. It was during his Parisian studies that he became a Marxist and reviewed his ideas on poetry in theory and in practice. His communist political alignment and association with the Communist Party of Greece resulted in his being dismissed from his teaching position at the Pedagogical Academy in 1926 and barred from any state employment. Varnalis thus took to journalism, a profession he practiced until the end of his life. In 1929, he married the poet Dora Moatsou. In 1935, he participated in the Soviet Writers' Conference in Moscow as Greece's representative. Under the 4th of August Regime, he was sent to internal exile in Mytilene and Agios Efstratios. During the German Occupation of Greece, he took part in the resistance movement as a member of the National Liberation Front (EAM). In 1959, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. Varnalis died in Athens on 16 December 1974, and is buried in the First Cemetery of Athens.

• Kirithres (Κηρήθρες, "Honeycombs"), Varnalis' first collection, Athens 1905. • O Proskynitis (Ο Προσκυνητής, "The Pilgrim"), 1919. • To fos pou kaiei (Το φως που καίει, "The Burning Light"), Alexandria 1922, under the pen-name Dimos Tanalias. • Sklavoi poliorkimenoi (Σκλάβοι πολιορκημένοι, "Besieged Slaves"), 1927. • Poiitika (Ποιητικά, "Poetic Works"), collection, 1956. • Eleftheros Kosmos (Ελεύθερος Κόσμος, "Free World"), collection, 1965. • Orgi laou (Οργή λαού, "Wrath of People"), collection, published posthumously in 1975.

• Attalos o Tritos (Άτταλος ο Τρίτος, "Attalos the Third"), 1972.

Kostas Varnalis is recorded with the occupation literary critic. Recorded with the occupation prose writer. Recorded as journalist, poet, translator, writer and playwright.