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Nikos Kazantzakis Room, paintings and personal items Reconstruction of Nikos Kazantzakis’s study at his house in Antibes Nikos Kazantzakis in Zurich, August 1955 Kapetan Michalis (Freedom or Death), Italian edition, Nikos Kazantzakis

Nikos Kazantzakis

“…I will willingly give the Museum… anything valuable I have connected to my long, laborious, intellectual life. Thus preserving the cell where a Heraklion labourer of the intellect has worked for so many years …” (Letter from N. Kazantzakis to SCHS, 9th January 1957).
With the above words, the author of Zorba the Greek notified the Society of Cretan Historical Studies of his intention to donate personal possessions and archive material to the Historical Museum of Crete, a few months prior to his death. The Nikos Kazantzakis Collection includes the Cretan author’s study from his home in Antibes, France, with his library, original furniture and personal possessions, manuscripts of his works and several first editions of his books in numerous languages. Digital installations project a wealth of archive material and clips from films based on his novels, such as Zorba the Greek, directed by Michael Cacoyannis and The Last Temptation, directed by Martin Scorsese.

Nikos Kazantzakis, possibly the world’s best-known Modern Greek writer, was born in Heraklion in 1883. His works have been translated into over thirty languages, and continue to resonate with readers all over the globe. His grave is on the Martinengo Bastion of the Venetian walls in Heraklion.