| Kostas Ouranis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1890 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 1953 Athens, Greece |
| Occupation | poet, travel writer, journalist, translator, essayist |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Period | 1908-1953 |
Kostas Ouranis (Greek: Κώστας Ουράνης, pen name of Κώστας Νιάρχος) was an acclaimed Greek poet, travel writer and journalist.
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Ouranis was born in Istanbul in 1890 to Nikolaos Niarchos and Angeliki Yannousi from Leonidio, Arcadia, where he grew up and went to elementary school. He went to high school in Nafplion and then Istanbul, where he graduated. In 1908 he moved to Athens and worked as a journalist for a while, before moving to Paris for studies he did not complete.
While there, he suffered from tuberculosis, and relocated to Davos in Switzerland in order to recover. There he met Manuela Santiago from Portugal, they got married but the marriage did not last. His second marriage, which lasted until his death in 1953 was with Eleni Ourani, also known with the pen name Alkis Thrylos (Άλκης Θρύλος).
He was the Greek Consul in Lisbon from 1920 to 1924, when he moved back to Athens and worked as a journalist in many newspapers; as a correspondent he traveled throughout the world. His shaky health, however, deteriorated, especially during the Occupation of Greece (1941-1945). He died from a heart attack in 1953.
To this day, the Ouranis foundation, run by the Academy of Athens, grants scholarships to foreign students studying Modern Greek Literature[1], gives each year awards for prose, poetry and essay[2] and publishes works of Greek Literature under the series Νεοελληνική Βιβλιοθήκη (Modern Greek Library).[3]
The main part of his works were poetry and travel writing; he also wrote essays and he was a distinguished translator. Many of his works was collected and published posthumously by his widow, Eleni Ourani.