In world literature, Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of Zorba the Greek, is probably the most internationally acclaimed and recognised of modern Greek authors, yet in Greece he was one of the most reviled during his lifetime.
Although he was nominated nine times for the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Greek state and the Orthodox Church placed heavy pressure on the academy to ignore the author.
Despite rumours that Mr Kazantzakis had been excommunicated were incorrect, his widow, Eleni, experienced great difficulties in trying to arrange for his burial in his home city of Heraklion in Crete.
Kazantzakis died of leukaemia on 26 October, 1957 in Freiburg, West Germany. After great difficulty Mrs Kazanzakis was able to secure his burial at the Martinegro Bastion, the highest point on the city’s Venetian walls on 5 November, attended by thousands of Cretans. The report on the event was one of the earliest assignments given one of Greece’s most iconic journalists Freddie Germanos.
Tying all these events together is Greek journalist Yorgos Pratanos’ in his first novel, a political thriller and biopic, The Unwanted Dead – the Shocking End of Zorba’s Heretical Author. Eleni Kazantzakis and Freddie Germanos are the main protagonists in the book that is published by Dioptra in Greece and internationally by US publisher Black Rose Writing.
READ MORE: Greek Ministry of Culture declares 2017 ‘Year of Nikos Kazantzakis’
“Eighty percent of the book is factual. To be more precise, the dialogues in ‘real time’ are fictional, in addition to the dialogues of the ‘past’,” Mr Pratanos told Neos Kosmos. “The only fictional main character is Kritikaros, who has the general characteristics of the Cretan people and is a dedication to them.”
In the book it is Kritikaros who informs the young Germanos about the events following Mr Kazantzakis’s death and the journalist sets about uncovering the obstacles being put in the way of the author’s widow in seeking to bury him in his home city.
“Despite the official propaganda against Kazantzakis, Crete was never shy about the issue… It was Cretan members of parliament who raised their voice against the tactics of the Greek church which wanted to ban Kazantzakis’s books,” said Mr Pratanos who was born in Thessaloniki.
Mr Pratanos worked as a journalist for About Thessaloniki magazine in the early 2000s and then worked for Makedonia TV. In 2005, he moved to Athens and worked for Alter Channel and a number of Greek magazines and websites. In 2013, he was appointed the deputy managing editor of the Greek edition of People Magazine and became the managing editor in 2018 -19.
He said he had always been aware of the important events in Mr Kazantzakis’ life long before he began work on his novel
“In the beginning, I was not comfortable enough to do it (write the book) It was the encouragement, or to be more honest, the pressure of significant friends who believed in me that made it happen. It was not only the exposure to an unfamiliar area (the book industry) that made me hesitant to begin, but it was also the burden of the Kazantzakis’ legend. I had to be not only careful, but (also accurate) and still not get drawn into his legacy.”
Initially the project was to be the script for a play, but the former director of the Greek National Theatre, Sotiris Hatzakis, persuaded the journalist who had conducted over nine months of research to write the book.
“The findings of the research were so big and decisive to the story that I could not exclude them. That is why I incorporate them in a novel. All the stories in the book are real and the fictitious parts are used to serve the plot and the reader,” Mr Pratanos said.
The problem was not only the spectre of the vast legacy that Mr Kazantzakis represented, it was also forging a link between the widow’s efforts to bury her husband and Freddie Germanos’s coverage of the event.
“I remembered the Germanos’ s first reportage was Kazantzakis’ funeral. It was after the first week of research, when I reached a dead end. I did not know how to connect Eleni, who was at Freiburg, and then in the Antibes (where she had lived with her husband), with the events in Athens. Freddie Germanos was a brilliant idea, because a journalist lives events as both an outsider and an insider.
READ MORE: Greek literary figures: Nikos Kazantzakis
“My ‘Eureka’ moment came as I lay in bed. I immediately got up and checked the facts and when I was proved right I started screaming. The dogs shared my happiness – it was five in the morning.”
With the link between his protagonists established, Mr Pratanos set about conducting more research for his book.
“The research about the specific 10 days after the author’s death began about nine months before (writing took place). I visited Heraklion and interviewed people who had been present at the funeral. The details of their testaments led me paths I never imagined.
“The most intriguing interview was with the priest who conducted the funeral. He was ill but he wanted to speak about all those historical incidents which caused him many troubles later.
“I still remember how moved I was listening to him. He passed away two months after the book was published.”
The fact that the book has come to be published abroad (by US based publisher Black Rose Writing) was a source of worry for him but his concerns were put to rest by the encouragement that the book’s translators, Niki Starvrou and Nicole Brison Chraniotis gave him.
“I was reluctant about the idea of the novel being published internationally because it is too difficult to translate from the Greek – Niki and Nicole proved to me they are the best … they managed to deliver a brilliant translation.”
Ms Stavrou is the step granddaughter and godchild of Eleni Kazantzakis and has been responsible for the Kazantzakis estate since the death of her father, Patroklos who was Mrs Kazantzakis’ stepson. Her support for the book was even more significant.
Mr Kazantakis works, particularly The Last Temptation of Christ (made into a controversial film by Martin Scorcese) raised the ire of religious leaders. For a time he also sympathised with the communist experiment in Russia but was to turn his back on it when Josef Stalin took power after 1925. He founded a socialist party and served briefly as a Minister without Portfolio in the short-lived coalition government of Themistoklis Sofoulis (1945-46). He married his long-time companion Eleni Samiou in November 1945.
“Despite efforts by neutrals and supporters to finally clear Kazantzakis’ name, there are certain parts of Greek society which still think of him as their grandfathers did: an atheist and corrupter of youth,” said Mr Pratanos. “The Greek Orthodox Church played its role in this – 64 years after his death, it has never apologised for its stance.
“The main reason Kazantzakis stand tall even today is because of his brilliance, his universal ideas, his honesty, his values – which he never abandoned. His corrupt enemies are now forgotten and disgraced.”
♦ The Unwanted Dead – the Shocking End of Zorba’s Heretical Author by Yorgos Pratanos is published in Greece by Dioptra Publications, Black Rose Writing is the US publisher.
