Vitsentzos Kornaros was a Cretan poet, who wrote the romantic epic poem Erotokritos. He lived between 1553 and 1613 or 1614.
He wrote in vernacular Greek, and was a leading figure of the Cretan Renaissance.
Vitsentzos Kornaros is considered to be the greatest of all the Cretan poets and one of the most significant and influential figures in the entire course of Greek poetry.
Not many biographic sources exist about Kornaros apart from the last verses of his poem Erotokritos. It is believed that he was born to a wealthy family in Trapezonda, a village near Sitia, Crete, in 1553, and lived there roughly up to 1590. He then moved to Candia, the modern city of Heraklion, where his marriage to Marietta Zeno took place. Together they had two daughters named Helen and Katerina.
In 1591 Kornaros became an administrator and during the outbreak of plague from 1591 to 1593 he worked as a sanitary supervisor. He showed interest in literature and was a member of a literary group called Accademia degli Stravaganti (Academy of the Strange Ones), which was founded by his brother and fellow writer Andrea Cornaro.
He died in Candia, in 1613 (or 1614), and was buried at the church of San Francesco. The cause of his death remains unknown.
Kornaros' poem "Erotokritos" was a source of inspiration for Dionysios Solomos and influenced Greek poets such as Kostis Palamas, Krystallis and Seferis.
Source: wikipedia.org
Edited by: Yallou