Nikos Kazantzakis died on October 26, 1957. Ever since, his widow, Eleni, devoted her life to the promotion and dissemination of his work. Aspiring to single-handedly defeat the various political and financial obstacles which had, until then, disfavored some of Nikos Kazantzakis’s books in Greece and abroad, she embodied the indefatigable force through which the entirety of his work would always be available to all his readers. Eleni made her small apartment in Geneva, where she resided since the early 1960’s, a living museum of Nikos Kazantzakis’s life and work.
Her vision for Nikos Kazantzakis’s books stretched far and wide, beyond the borders of Greece. She hoped that his words would one day be translated into all of the Earth’s languages, and that his Cretan Glance, which she so deeply comprehended, would extend to the farthest reaches of our world.
During the Greek military junta regime (1967-74), Eleni N. Kazantzakis traveled the world to speak about the works of Nikos Kazantzakis, human rights and democracy, all of which, were regarded as anti-establishment activities by the dictatorial regime. Eleni arrived on the island of Cyprus in November 1967, to speak about Kazantzakis and freedom, as a guest of the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios. This gave her the opportunity to return to all those places that she and her husband had once visited together in 1926 but also, to make the acquaintance of Patroclos Stavrou, Under Secretary to the President of the Republic of Cyprus, and his wife, Mary, marking the beginning of a deep friendship.
Eleni, the person who possessed a deep knowledge of Nikos Kazantzakis’s work, aspired to attain creative control of all the steps of the publishing process, from editing to distribution. In October 1971 her wish was realized with the help and support of Patroclos Stavrou, an awarded philologist and fervent admirer of Nikos Kazantzakis. Eleni appointed Patroclos Stavrou as her literary agent and representative in Greece, thereby revitalizing the ELENI Ν. KAZANTZAKIS PUBLICATIONS, the Publishing House that she had established in the 1960’s for the publication and distribution exclusively of the works of Nikos Kazantzakis. Together with Patroclos Stavrou, they re-edited all the books, selected the color, binding and design, and created a series of books which fully reflected Nikos’s own vision for his works.
After the fall of the Greek junta, Eleni N. Kazantzakis spent all her summers and holidays at the Stavrou family house in Greece, closely overseeing the operation of her Publishing House which was managed by Patroclos Stavrou. In 1973, Eleni baptized Patroclos’s and Mary’s baby daughter, and in 1982 she adopted Patroclos Stavrou. Eleni had always regarded Patroclos as her son; she laid her trust in him to realize Nikos Kazantzakis’s vision, hoping that one day, her little goddaughter (named ‘Niki’ after Nikos Kazantzakis), would continue to maintain the bond between the past and the future and preserve the legacy of Nikos Kazantzakis.
The Kazantzakis Publications is the Athens-based establishment which publishes and distributes the books of Nikos Kazantzakis as well as those of his wife Eleni N. Kazantzakis. Moreover, the Kazantzakis Publications is the spiritual residence of Nikos and Eleni Kazantzakis, the intellectual hearth of their work, and an information center for the research and continuous learning on the life and works of Nikos Kazantzakis. Countless, on a national and international level, are the scholars, students, professors, institutions, conference organizers, associations and foundations who refer to us for assistance, guidance and information on Nikos Kazantzakis.
The Kazantzakis Publications have been operating under the name KAZANTZAKIS PUBLICATIONS [PATROCLOS STAVROU] since 1994. Eleni N. Kazantzakis, the wife and life companion of Nikos Kazantzakis, adopted Patroclos Stavrou in 1982, and bequeathed to him the copyrights on the works of Nikos Kazantzakis, which she possessed as his rightful heiress, according to Nikos Kazantzakis’s Last Will and Testament. On February 18, 2004, on the day of her husband’s birthday, Eleni N. Kazantzakis died, 101 years old.
Dr Patroclos Stavrou, sharing his mother’s vision to promote and disseminate the works of Nikos Kazantzakis, takes special care to ensure that all of the published works of Nikos Kazantzakis, as well as those works authored by Eleni N. Kazantzakis, are readily available and always in stock.
Furthermore, Dr Patroclos Stavrou researches, compiles and publishes anecdotal and comprehensive information on the life and work of Nikos Kazantzakis and constantly upgrades and improves the quality and presentation of his books. For Dr Patroclos Stavrou and his dedicated staff, each new edition is a labor of love, for which extensive research is being conducted in libraries, antique bookstores and various other local and international institutions. Each reprint, aesthetically and typographically improved and enriched with relevant photographic material, earns high praises by the academic public, the libraries and institutions whose shelves they adorn. Dr Patroclos Stavrou frequently lectures in national and international cultural events in various educational and other institutions, such as the Library of Congress, State University of San Francisco, the University of Cyprus, and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
Here at the Kazantzakis Publications, the Reader of Nikos Kazantzakis will find people who fill their lives with the words of the great author, who are committed to the preservation of his spiritual legacy, and who always carry inside them the dying wish of Eleni, to preserve Nikos Kazantzakis’s flame alight.