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Constantine Cavafy

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Poet

The Resume

    (April 29, 1863-April 29, 1933)
    Born in Alexandria, Egypt
    Birth name is Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis
    Wrote poems ‘Walls (1896),' ‘Candles (1899),' ‘Waiting for Barbarians (1904),' ‘The City (1910),' ‘Ithaca (1911),' ‘The Bandaged Shoulder (1919)' ‘Priest at the Serapeum (1926)' and ‘In 200 BC (1931)'

Why he might be annoying:

    He anglicized his surname.
    He worked as a civil servant for the British in Egypt for 30 years.
    Although known as a Greek poet, he spent very little time in Greece.
    He was a perfectionist unable to complete many poems.
    He lived with family members until he was 45.
    He became reclusive in later years.
    His nephew Aleko may have actually been his illegitimate son.
    In ‘The Bandaged Shoulder,' he writes of kissing a bloody bandage.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His family's wealth was squandered when he was still a child.
    His apartment in Alexandria was destroyed in a British attack.
    His work revived interest in Greek poetry.
    He was skeptical about nationalism.
    He wrote openly of homosexual love.
    Later generations appreciated his clear, direct style more than his own did.
    E.M. Forster championed his poetry.
    He lost his voice after a tracheotomy to treat his cancer.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 88 Votes: 67.05% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 194 Votes: 75.26% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 91 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 23 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 37 Votes: 59.46% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 61 Votes: 65.57% Annoying