Cavafy, Constantine

(born April 17, 1863, Alexandria—died April 29, 1933, Alexandria) Poet of Turkish-Greek ancestry. Born to Greek parents, Cavafy worked as an obscure civil servant in Alexandria his entire adult life. His small body of work, some 200 poems in an intimate, realistic, lyrical style, is written in a strange combination of classically based and modern Greek. Many deal with history, principally the Hellenistic era; many others reflect Cavafy's homosexual life. His poems became popular and influential after his death, and he is now widely regarded as one of the greatest of modern Greek poets.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica