On 24 October 1963, the joyful news of the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to the poet George Seferis arrived in Athens. Sixty years later, on the same day, 24 October 2023, the Benaki Museum opened the exhibition “George Seferis. 60 years since the Nobel Prize”.
The exhibition, with the Nobel Prize medal and diploma, which belongs to the collection of the Gika Gallery and was donated by Maro Seferis, aims to bring to life the atmosphere of the day of the historic announcement and the climate of the days that followed until the award on 10 December 1963.
It presents numerous documents from the Seferis archive deposited at the Archives of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, as well as photographic material from the Kostas Megalokonomou archive of the Benaki Museum’s Photographic Archives, newspapers and magazines of the time, from Greece and abroad.
The Nobel Prize Gold Medal
Of particular interest are the letters of congratulations to George Seferis, among which those of Nikos Hadjikyriakos Gikas, Nannos Valaoritis, Andreas Embiricos, Sophia Vembos and Nikos Gabriel Pentzikis stand out, while the correspondence of Maro Seferis with the Benaki Museum regarding the donation of the poet’s Nobel Prize is presented for the first time.
The climate in Athens at the time of the award ceremony was politically volatile and socially tense. The assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis in May, the resignation of Konstantinos Karamanlis in June and the elections already called for November 1963 are the main topics of interest.
The Nobel Prize Diploma of George Seferis
News of the award is published in the front pages of newspapers and extensive tributes are given in their cultural pages, but interest quickly wanes. On the day after the award (11 December), the news is either lost in most newspapers’ internal pages or is a one-page headline, squeezed under the weight of political developments.
The Benaki Museum exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Swedish Embassy in Athens.
At the same time as the exhibition at the Gika Gallery, a similar exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Nobel Prize is being inaugurated at the Greek Embassy in London, in the space where George Seferis’ office was located.
Finally, on 18 December 2023, Ikaros will publish the trilingual (Greek, English, French) edition “Giorgos Seferis, I am the same, an anti-contradiction…”, which includes the two iconic speeches of the poet at the Nobel Prize reception. The event will take place at the Gika Gallery, next to the exhibition site.
Opening Hours:
25/10/2023 – 24/02/2024
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 10:00 – 18:00
Tickets:
€ 5
