[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E51]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN HONOR OF NOBEL WINNING POET GEORGE SEFERIS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2001

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to George 
Seferis (nom de plume of George Seferiadis), on the 100th anniversary 
of his birth.
  On December 5, 2000 the Consulate Generals of Greece and Cyprus, the 
Hon. Dimitris Platis and the Hon. Vasilis Philippou will host an 
evening of celebration of the works of George Seferiadis. This cultural 
event will provide an opportunity for many individuals to appreciate 
the works of George Seferis, statesman, fighter for democracy, and 
poet.
  George Seferis was born on the 29th of February 1900 in Smyrna. The 
family moved to Athens in 1914. From 1918-1924 he studied law in Paris 
and in 1926 joined the diplomatic service. His career took him to 
London and Albania. From the 28th of October 1940, when Mussolini 
attacked Greece, every evening he held foreign press briefings in 
Athens. These press conferences are still remembered.
  During WWII he served in Beirut and Alexandria. After the war he 
continued to serve in the diplomatic core and was stationed in Ankara, 
London, and Beirut. In 1963 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for 
Literature. George Seferis' poetry shows his search for clarification. 
His striving toward the lights that stands for life, hope, and 
salvation in what gives his poetry its anguished tone but also its 
sense of immediacy. The clarity of his precisely controlled style, his 
complex symbolism, his powerful understatement, with the intensity of 
his suppressed emotions, compactness of nuance and wealth of allusions 
create an effect of dramatic density.

     Lord, help us to keep in mind the causes of this slaughter: 
         greed, dishonesty, selfishness,
     The desecration of love;
     Lord, help us to root these out . . .

  As we celebrate the hundred years since his birth and mourn his death 
(September 20th, 1971), Hellenes have been singing Seferis' stanza of 
hope put to music by Theodorakis:

     A little farther
     We will see the almond trees blossoming
     The marble gleaming in the sun
     The sea breaking into waves
     A little farther
     Let us rise a little higher.

  He died during the time of the brutal military dictatorship in 
Greece. Having denounced the regime on March 28, 1969, he became a 
symbol for millions of Greeks who hated the junta and knew of his 
poetry.
  We truly thank the Honorable Vasilis Philippou and the Honorable 
Dimitris Platis for sharing with us the wonderful works and history of 
George Seferis.

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