Menelaos Lountemis

Biography

He was the only boy of the five children of Grigoris Balassoglou (who after fleeing Turkey and finding refuge in Greece changed it to Valassiadis) and Domna Tsouflidi. He first appeared in Greek literature in a very young age, publishing poetry collections in "Agrotiki Idea" of Edessa in 1927 and 1928, which signed under his real name (Takis Valassiadis). Circa 1930 he published poems and short stories of his in "Nea Estia" magazine. The first time he used his pen name was in 1934 for the short story "Μια νύχτα με πολλά φώτα κάτω από μια πόλη με πολλά αστέρια". He was awarded with the State Prize for Prose in 1938 for his short stories collection "Τα πλοία δεν άραξαν " and with the Golden Daphne Award in Paris in 1951. He was also awarded with the prize "Menelaos Lountemis" which was established in his honor by the Hellenic Association of Litterateurs and it is awarded annually to the best prose of the previous year. In his honor, in Bucharest a public building was named after him (Lountemis Mansion). According to Vassilis Vassilikos, "he is considered the most educated Greek after Nikos Kazantzakis".^[3]

Refugee from Yalova after Greek genocide,^[4] he find shelter with his family initially in Aegina, then in Edessa and finally in village Exaplatanos of Pella, where he lived from 1923 to 1932 when he left to Kozani. He lived for a while in the state boarding house of Edessa. His family was wealthy, but bankrupted in Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) and Lountemis had to work hard in his adolescence as scullion, shoeblack, cantor, teacher in villages of Almopia, even as a foreman at the then under construction Gallikos river infrastructure works. In the 10th grade – of the six-grade secondary school of that time – he left school due to political reasons and he was expelled from all secondary schools of his country. (His engagement in left-wing politics and his political activities from inside the lines of the Communist Party of Greece, cost him his expulsion from the entire school system.)

Through an odyssey of successive resettlements, from Edessa to state boarding house in Kozani and then to Volos, following a wandering group of that time, he finally reaches Athens and connects closely to Kostas Varnalis, Angelos Sikelianos και Miltiadis Malakassis. The latter will help him to be appointed to the "Athenian Club" as a librarian in 1938 and financially recover.^[5] At the same time his friendship with professor of Philosophy Nikolaos Veis, will allow him to attend courses at the School of Philosophy of Athens. A lot of literary successes will follow and he will become member of the Hellenic Association of Litterateurs, under the presidency of Nikos Kazantzakis.

Works

1. "Τα πλοία δεν άραξαν", Athens, PUB: Γκοβόστης, short stories (1938) ISBN 960-344-915-6
2. «Περιμένοντας το ουράνιο τόξο», Athens, short stories (1940)
3. «Γλυκοχάραμα», Athens, short stories (1944)
4. «Το τραγούδι των διψασμένων», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, short stories (1966)
5. «Βουρκωμένες μέρες», Athens, short stories (1953) ISBN 960-344-914-8
6. «Αυτοί που φέρανε την καταχνιά», Athens, short stories (1946) ISBN 960-393-140-3
7. «Έκσταση», Athens, PUB: Αετός, novel (1943) ISBN 960-393-139-X
8. «Καληνύχτα ζωή», Athens, novel (1946) ISBN 960-393-138-1
9. «Οι κερασιές θ' ανθίσουν και φέτος», Athens, PUB: Μόρφωση, novel (1956)
10. «Συννεφιάζει», Athens, novel (1946) ISBN 960-344-837-0
11. «Ένα παιδί μετράει τ' άστρα», Athens, PUB: Δίφρος, novel (1956) ISBN 960-344-768-4
12. «Η φυλακή του Kάτω Kόσμου», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, novel (1964) ISBN 960-393-312-0
13. «Το ρολόι του κόσμου χτυπά μεσάνυχτα», Athens, PUB: Κέδρος, novel (1963) ^[6] ISBN 960-344-888-5
14. "Τότε που κυνηγούσα τους ανέμους", Athens, PUB: Δίφρος, novel (1956) ISBN 960-393-137-3
15. «Λύσσα», novel
16. «Τρόπαια Α΄», (Η οπτασία του Μαραθώνα), novel
17. «Τρόπαια Β΄», (Σαλαμίνα), novel
18. «Κάτω απ' τα κάστρα της ελπίδας», novel ISBN 960-393-183-7
19. «Το κρασί των δειλών», (Σαρκοφάγοι Ι), Athens, Πολιτικές και λογοτεχνικές εκδόσεις, novel (1965) ^[7]ISBN 960-393-023-7
20. "Οι ήρωες κοιμούνται ανήσυχα", (Σαρκοφάγοι ΙΙ), Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, novel (1974)
21. «Ο άγγελος με τα γύψινα φτερά», (Σαρκοφάγοι ΙΙΙ), Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, novel (1974)
22. «Οδός Αβύσσου αριθμός 0», Athens, PUB: Βιβλιοεκδοτική, novel (1962) ISBN 960-344-820-6
23. «Θυμωμένα στάχυα», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, novel (1965) ISBN 960-344-993-8
24. «Αγέλαστη Άνοιξη», novel ISBN 960-393-024-5
25. «Της γης οι αντρειωμένοι...», Athens, βιογραφίες (1976)
26. «Οι αρχιτέκτονες του τρόμου», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, satirical novel (1966)
27. «Οι κεραυνοί ξεσπούν», Athens, PUB: Κάδμος, play (1958)
28. «Θα κλάψω αύριο», (σκηνικό ρομάντσο), Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, play (1975)
29. «Ανθισμένο όνειρο», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, play (1975)
30. «Ταξίδια του χαμού», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, play (1975)
31. «Πικρή θάλασσα», (ελληνική θαλασσογραφία), Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, play (1976)
32. «Μπατ-Τάι», (Οδοιπορικό στο Βιετνάμ), Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, travel literature (1966)
33. «Ταξίδι στην απεραντοσύνη», (Οδοιπορικό), Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, political essay (1976)
34. «Οι Δήμιοι με τ’ άσπρα γάντια», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, play δράμα (1978)
35. «Δαίδαλος», σε εικονογράφηση Γ.Πανετέα, Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, short stories for children ISBN 960-393-136-5
36. «Ίκαρος», short stories for children ISBN 960-344-835-4
37. «Ηρακλής», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, short stories for children (1976) |ISBN 960-393-135-7
38. "Θησέας", short stories for children ISBN 960-344-771-4
39. "Ο μεγάλος Δεκέμβρης", Athens, PUB: Μαρής-Κοροντζής, short stories for children (1945)
40. «Κραυγή στα πέρατα», Athens, PUB: Παλμός, poetry collection (1954)
41. «Θρηνολόι και άσμα για το σταυρωμένο νησί», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, poetry collection (1975)
42. «Το σπαθί και το φιλί», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, poetry collection (1967)
43. «Κοντσέρτο για δύο μυδράλια και ένα αηδόνι», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, poetry collection (1973)
44. «Πυρπολημένη μνήμη», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός (1975)
45. «Οι εφτά κύκλοι της μοναξιάς», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, poetry collection (1975)
46. «Τραγουδώ για την Κύπρο», Athens, PUB: Μόρφωση, poem (1956)
47. «Ο λυράρης (Μιλτιάδης Μαλακάσης)», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός (1974)
48. «Ο κονταρομάχος (Κώστας Βάρναλης)», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός (1974)
49. «Ο εξάγγελος (Άγγελος Σικελιανός)», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός, poetry (1976)
50. «Καραγκιόζης ο Έλληνας», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός
51. «Ο γολγοθάς μιας ελπίδας», Athens, PUB: Δωρικός
52. «Μενέλαος Λουντέμης Απανθίσματα», Athens, PUB: Ελληνικά Γράμματα (2004) του Δαυίδ Ναχμία
53. «Μια Νύχτα με πολλά φώτα,κάτω από μια πόλη με πολλά Αστέρια», PUB: Ελληνικά Γράμματα (1934)

Translations