Palamas, Kostes (1859-1943)

Greek poet. He enriched the Greek vernacular by his use of it as a literary language, particularly in his poetry; collections include Songs of My Fatherland 1886, Life Immovable 1904, The Twelve Lays of the Gypsy 1907, and The Flute of the King 1910, which expresses his vivid awareness of Greek history.

Orphaned early, he spent his childhood at Missolonghi (Mesolongion), and in 1875 went to Athens University. From 1886 he published many volumes of poetry, as well as criticism and short stories. He was fiercely opposed to what he saw as the stifling effects of the 19th-century archaistic outlook, and became recognized as the leader in Athens of the ‘demotic movement’. In his efforts to establish the popular language, he transformed metrical technique, and expressed the many-sided Greek tradition in poetry.