Born in Crete to a Lesvos family in 1911. He studied law in the University of Athens.
His main work -published in 1959- is "Axion Esti", a poem that attempts to identify the vital elements in Greece's 3000 year old history and tradition and where the Orthodox liturgy blends with the images of the sun, the sea, and the Christian element with the pagan.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1979.