In this book, the author examines the last seventeen years of Rainer Maria Rilke’s life (1875–1926), from his first meeting with the owner of the Duino Castle, Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis, until his death, shedding particular light on certain periods of his life, during which the reader follows the course of a great and fruitful friendship, the circumstances under which the poet was inspired and wrote his great poetic works, the effect on his psyche of the places he visited, the women he met, the friendships he formed, the devastating world war, Duino and the tower of Mizo, as well as his relationship with various figures of his time.
It includes details that are likely unknown to the Greek public, such as his aversion to Christianity, his passion for El Greco’s paintings, his involvement with spiritualism, and his contacts with members of the European aristocracy.
The publication is accompanied by twenty-one rare photographs
- Pages: 224
- ISBN: 978-960-8399-55-6
- Publication: 2007
- Dimensions: 13 x 21
- Categories: Books, Essays & Thought, Δοκίμιο
Alexandros Isaris
Alexandros Isaris was born in Serres in 1941. He studied architecture at the Polytechnic Universities of Graz and Thessaloniki. From 1962 to 1978 he lived in Thessaloniki. He has published essays, prose, poems and translations in various literary journals from time to time. For eight years he was in charge of the Greek section of the magazine "Ausblicke". For his first collection of poetry, "The Society of Friends of the Sea – The Balancer", he was awarded the Maria Ralli Prize (1977). In 1982, he presented a series of programmes on ERT’s Third Channel. In 1985, he took part in Greek Poetry Week in Amsterdam and Groningen. In 1986, he represented Greece at the theatre festival in Mülheim, Germany. In 1990, he visited major cultural centres in Germany at the invitation of the Goethe-Institut. In 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1999, he spent time in Vienna as a guest of the Austrian Literary Society. In 1997, he became a founding member of the Thomas Bernhard Society. In 1997, he was awarded the State Translation Prize for Thomas Bernhard’s *Beton*. He is also a well-known painter and graphic artist. He has exhibited his paintings in eight solo and twelve group exhibitions. He has lived in Athens since 1978.
