“The Ascent”: The well-known, unknown work of Nikos Kazantzakis 65 years after his death

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The manuscript of “Aniphorus” was among unclassified material and there was no indication that it was a completed work nor was there any reference to the title

It has been 65 years since his death Nikos Kazantzakis, in 1957, and the work of the great Greek thinker, is again in the spotlight on the occasion of the release of a work that has not been published in Greece. It is about the book “The Ascent” which has been on the shelves of bookstores all over the country for the last few days, which will be officially presented at the N. Kazantzakis Museum in Myrtia, Heraklion, on November 7. It is an almost unknown work by Nikos Kazantzakis, whose manuscript (which is part of the collections of the founder of the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum, Giorgos Anemoyiannis) is preserved in the Museum, while its pages are exhibited in the Permanent Exhibition.

“The first recording of the still unknown “Aniforos” in the “Autographs” Collection took place in 2007, when the Museum, thanks to the efforts of its former director, Varvara Tsakas, and utilizing community resources, proceeded to preserve and digitize its valuable material and in collaboration with the Library of the University of Crete carried out the initial scientific documentation and cataloging of its archive” the manager of the Museum’s Collections “N. Kazantzakis”, philologist and PhD candidate in Modern Greek Philology Paraskevi Vasiliadis, who added that the manuscript of “Aniforo” was among those classified at the time, but there was no indication of whether it was a completed work and there was no reference to the title , which has now been attributed to him.

“In the original documentation of the manuscript there was information that Kazantzakis used certain pieces of it in other works and that Eleni Kazantzakis had mentioned that Kazantzakis himself did not want it,” Ms. Vassiliadis added.

The curators of the re-exhibition in 2010 decided to include this item in the “Novels” room of the Museum in the section that included archival material that could be researched in depth, while a few years later, the sponsorship of Evangelos Marinakis and the rescue efforts of the former chairman of the Board of Directors, Stelios Matzapetakis, enabled the Museum to staff its departments. The Archives Department was taken over by Mrs. Vassiliadis, a philologist and PhD candidate in Modern Greek Philology with experience in archival documentation, who in the context of her research, re-studying the manuscript realized with certainty that it was a completely different and previously unknown complete novel. Then, as she pointed out to APE-MPE, by cross-checking many sources, including Kazantzakis’ letters and third-party references to it, she found out that it is the work “The Ascent” that Kazantzakis actually wrote in England after the end of 2 World War II and was never published. Thus his identification became definitive.

“In 2017, the manuscript of “Aniforos” traveled to Athens for the anniversary tribute held at the Benaki Museum under the general title “NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS, the Cosmoparoritis” and even gave the name to one of the three exhibitions that were presented. It was the first official reference to the unknown work of Kazantzakis” explained Mrs. Vassiliadis, who together with Nikos Mathioudakis, the editor of Kazantzakis Publications at the time, transcribed the manuscript with the aim of publishing it and presented the work for the first time in international academic audience at the 6th Modern Greek Studies Conference in Lund, Sweden. They then submitted the transcription of the manuscript into an edited edition to the Kazantzakis Publications Directorate. In the end, the publication of “Aniforos” was carried out by Dioptra Publications, which recently took over the responsibility of publishing the entire Kazantzakis work.

“The Nikos Kazantzakis Museum feels special joy for the publication of Aniforos. Beyond the enormous importance for the Greek Letters of the rendering to the reading public of yet another work of the great Cretan writer and thinker, the identification of one of his works by Museum staff indicates the enormous effort being made at the Museum for in-depth study and utilization of the extremely important archival material it possesses but also the high scientific quality of its staff. In fact, the preservation and enrichment of the Museum’s Collections was one of the criteria on the basis of which the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum – the first in Crete – received the “Recognized Museum” mark from the Ministry of Culture this year,” the president of the Museum told APE-MPE Board of Directors of the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum Michalis Taroudakis.

“Nikos Kazantzakis passed away 65 years ago but he continues to give life with his pen, thoughts and exhortations to millions of readers around the world” added Mr. Taraudakis who added that “Kazantzakis is always relevant and this will be perceived by the readers of Aniforos, as they will find extensive references to the reflections of a spiritual man in the face of the constantly worsening problems of the world and the world situation, in which peace despite the end of a great war, did not seem to be assured. Could it be that if they reduce themselves to the present situation they will not find that anxiety and worry about the future continue to dominate us and nothing is certain?’ “Aniforos” was written at a time when Nikos Kazantzakis, according to the president of the Board of Directors of the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum, was deeply troubled both by the recent sufferings of the war and by the difficult social situation that characterized the everyday life of the time. The attempt to give autobiographical features to the text of Aniforos, as in his later works, he considers to reflect his great desire to externalize his personal reflections and concerns through fiction and not through a philosophical text or text of reflections. “Thus, Kazantzakis messages would reach the widest possible audience more easily. Perhaps this was also the reason why, as can be seen from his correspondence, the author wanted Aniforos to be translated and published immediately in English. However, he wants it to be clear that he himself has a vision for the world. Thus, in Aniforos, Kazantzakis essentially ends up invoking his visions by also referring to his work “Asceticism”, which is undoubtedly an excellent philosophical essay presenting his worldview, but which was already completed in its first edition in 1923. Did he want me this way to emphasize the timelessness of social problems and the value approach to our lives?’ added Mr. Taroudakis.

On November 7th at the Kazantzakis Museum, in collaboration with Dioptra publications, there will be a presentation of the work in which Konstantinos Papadopoulos, publisher of Dioptra publications, Thanasis Agathos, Deputy Professor of Modern Greek Literature at the University of Athens, and Paraskevi Vassiliadis, who will speak in more detail about the history of the manuscript. She also scientifically edited the periodical exhibition that will be inaugurated on the same day entitled: “THE CLIMB: The known-unknown work of Nikos Kazantzakis”. The exhibition in which the manuscript of the work and other important documents that illuminate its history will be presented will operate in the area of ​​the Permanent Exhibition until the Spring of 2023.

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