Overview
Papers by and about Greek poet, translator, and lyricist, Nikos Gatsos.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1930-1993
Creator
- Gkatsos, Nikos (Person)
Language of Materials
In Greek, with some material in English, Spanish, and French.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
A portion of this collection is shelved offsite. Retrieval requires advance notice. Check with Houghton Public Services staff.
Extent
5 linear feet (11 boxes)Compositions, correspondence, recorded songs, photographs, and related papers of Greek poet, translator and lyricist Nikos Gatsos.
Biographical / Historical
Nikos Gatsos was born in 1911 in Asea in Arcadia, a district of the Peloponnese; he attended high school in Tripoli. By the time he entered the University of Athens to study philosophy, he was already a fluent speaker of English and French. In Athens he came into contact with literary circles of the day; he later lived briefly in France. In 1943, during the Nazi occupation of Greece, Gatsos published his major work, the surrealist epic poem “Amorgos”. After the war, Gatsos worked as a literary critic and translator, particularly of theatrical plays, and he continued to publish poems in literary magazines. He worked with the Greek-British Review as a translator and with Ellinikí Radiofonía as a radio director; and he began writing lyrics for the music of Manos Hadjidakis and other notable composers. He died in Athens in 1992.
Arrangement
Arranged by type of materia into six series:
I. Compositions by Gatsos
II. Compositions by others
III. Correspondence
IV. Newspaper and magazine clippings on Amargos
V. Theater ephemera
VI. Biographical material
VII. Audio and video recordings
Compositions by Nikos Gatsos and others are listed alphabetically, but physical arrangement of items follows the order established by the donor.
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the name of correspondent.
The rest of the collection follows the order established by the donor.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2018M-98, 2019M-21. Purchased from Agathi Dimitrouk with funds from the Georgios and Demosthenes Constantinides Book Fund, the Harry K. & Ada Messenger Fund, and the President Cornelius Conway Felton Fund. 2020M-6 Additions to the collection
Separated Materials
Books belonging to Gatsos have been removed for separate cataloging.
Processing Information
Minimally processed by Melanie Wisner in 2018. Further processing done in 2020-2022 by Irina Klyagin and Rhea Lasage.
Creator
- Gkatsos, Nikos (Person)
- Title
- Gatsos, Nikos. Nikos Gatsos papers, circa 1930-1992 (MS Gr 40): Guide.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- Date
- 2018 July 5
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou02971
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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