The diplomat behind the poet

Exploring the elements that shape great personalities and the principles that define them is a process that is both fascinating and useful. One such endeavor was carried out by Vassilis Papadopoulos, a former ambassador and the general secretary of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic, in his book "Diplomacy and Poetry: The Case of Giorgos Seferis," published in Greek by Ikaros.

Apart from a veteran career diplomat, Papadopoulos is also a writer and a Seferis scholar whose career in the Greek diplomatic corps provided him with the ideal vantage point from which to observe and interpret how the award-winning poet's own diplomatic career influenced his work. By drawing links between turbulent moments in Seferis' career and his creative process, Papadopoulos provides us with a key for understanding the issues he grappled with, his philosophical underpinnings and his...