The San Francisco-based Modern Greek Studies Foundation has announced a $1 million grant to create the Nikos Kazantzakis Visiting Scholar Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

The new program, named in honor of one of Greece’s most prolific 20th century writers, will be established within the existing Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies Program at UC Berkeley.

The program will launch in 2023 to support visiting scholars in the field of modern Greek studies with a particular focus on modern Greek language, literature, film, history and culture.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to bring new conversations about the fascinating history, culture and literature of modern Greece to UC Berkeley,” Professor of History Christine Philliou said. “This adds to the longstanding, world-class programs we have in ancient and Byzantine Greek studies, connecting up with so many other regional programs and divisions across campus.”

Scholars will present an annual Nikos Kazantzakis lecture and may conduct seminars, engage in research and perform related academic activities during their residency.

The foundation and university also aim to grow the endowment to fund a permanent full-time professorship or chair in the name of Kazantzakis that will reflect the author’s profound contributions to modern Greek language and literature. 

Kazantzakis is the most widely read modern Greek writer whose work has been translated into 52 languages, and who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature nine times. His work encompasses wide and diverse aspects of Greek cultural practices and beliefs.

His best-known novels include Zorba the Greek, Christ Recrucified, Captain Michalis and The Last Temptation of Christ. His most personal novel was Report to Greco, an autobiographical tale of his spiritual and intellectual journey.

The Cretan native wrote poetry, theatrical plays, travel journals, children’s books, movie scripts and profound philosophical essays such as The Saviors of God: Spiritual Exercises. 

Kazantzakis considered his most important work his epic poem, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, consisting of 24 rhapsodies with 33,333 verses as in Homer’s original.

“In honoring the life and work of Nikos Kazantzakis, we honor the complex, beautiful and often fraught experiences of Greeks in the modern world, both in Greece and in the global diaspora,” Philliou said. “We are humbled by the generosity of the Modern Greek Studies Foundation and the trust they have put in us with this gift.”

Niki Stavrou, granddaughter of Eleni Kazantzakis and CEO of the Kazantzakis Estate in Athens, said that no other university worldwide holds a professorship or chair in the name of Kazantzakis.

“This is an historic achievement for Hellenism and modern Greek literature, as well as a cultural bridge connecting our two countries: To emblazon the name of Nikos Kazantzakis at one of the world’s great universities is an honor to his legacy,” Stavrou said.

“This endowed program is a promise that the profound artistic and spiritual beauty of his work will find new audiences across continents for many generations to come, as was the sincere wish of Eleni Kazantzakis. Greece celebrates this event,” she said.

The Modern Greek Studies Foundation was founded in 1981 to support academic programs, fellowships and library collections in modern Greek studies offered at universities and to sponsor a variety of public presentations to showcase the scope, beauty, depth and value of Greek culture.

Along with academic initiatives, the foundation sponsors the San Francisco Greek Film Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023 — the longest running Greek film festival in the United States. 

The Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies Program, housed within the UC Berkeley Institute of European Studies, builds an intellectual community around shared cultural and creative interests in contemporary Greece and the Greek diaspora around the globe.

Supported by the Modern Greek Studies Foundation and in partnership with the Consulate General of Greece in San Francisco, the program deepens relations between UC Berkeley and modern Greek initiatives across four key areas: Research, history and culture, diplomacy and innovation.