He is one of the most important poets in the history of Greece. His poems were set to music and sung by great artists and the entire Greek people.
He was born in 1900 in Smyrna, and his real name was George Seferiadis. He started school in Smyrna in 1906 and finished it in Athens 12 years later. He studied at the Sorbonne, studying law (his father was a lawyer), from which he received his doctorate in 1924. There he would first come into contact with poetry.
In 1926 he was appointed an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From there began a long career as a diplomat, which reached its peak in 1957, when he was appointed ambassador of Greece to Great Britain.
His first poetry collection was published in 1931, entitled "Strofi", with many saying that this particular poetry collection inaugurated the new era of Greek poetry. He was established as a poet 4 years later, with the collection "Novel".
Seferis wrote not only poems but also essays. Since the 50's, his poetry has been translated and appreciated outside Greece. As a result, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on December 10, 1963, "for his wonderful lyrical style, which is inspired by a deep sense of the Greek cultural ideal", as stated in the reasoning of the Swedish Academy.
It was not the first time he was nominated for the award. He was a candidate in 1955 and 1961. Two years later, rumors that he would be the winner were given and taken. They were confirmed on October 24, when the telegram with his name as the winner arrived in Athens. On December 10, in an impressive ceremony, the first Nobel Prize for Literature for Greece was awarded to George Seferis by the King of Sweden Gustavo.
In early August 1971, he was admitted to Evangelismos Hospital and operated on the duodenum. In the early hours of September 20, he died of postoperative complications. His funeral, which took on an anti-dictatorial character, was attended by a large crowd. In the funeral procession to the First Cemetery, in front of Hadrian's Gate, the crowd stops moving and begins to sing the forbidden song of Mikis Theodorakis with lyrics by Seferis "Denial" (In the perilial the hidden, as it is better known).
Seferis is still one of the most important poets in Greece. His contribution to letters and especially to poetry is considered enormous, with many later poets following his style.