Nikos Kazantzakis was born in Heraklion, Crete (Greece). He studied Law
in Athens and in Paris, but soon he studied philosophy and literature.
He travelled almost everywhere; he learnt many foreign languages and
left his scientific research for Nitsche. At philosophy: "Ascetics"
(Salvatores Dei, 1927), script that expresses the writer's belief for
metaphysics. At poetry: "The Odyssey" (1938) "Tertsines" and also some
poetic works for theatre: "Protomastoras" (=foreman) "Melissa" (=Bee)
"Julian" "Prometheus" etc. His novels are: "Alexis Zorbas" (1946) "O
Xristos xanastavronetai" (=Christ is recrucified) (1948) "O ftoxoulis
tou Theou" (=The God's poor man) (1952-3) "Anafora ston Greco
(=Reference to Greco) (1961) He died in 1957.
He lost the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature to Albert Camus by one vote.
Camus claimed that Kazantzakis deserved the honour "a hundred times
more" than himself.