Editing Constantine P. Cavafy (section)

{{Short description|Greek poet and journalist (1863–1933)}}
{{Redirect |Cavafy|the 1997 film|Cavafy (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| image            = Konstantinos Kavafis.jpg
| caption          = Constantine Cavafy in 1929
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1863|4|29|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt Eyalet]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1933|4|29|1863|4|29|df=y}}
| death_place      = Alexandria, [[Kingdom of Egypt]]
| resting_place    = Greek Orthodox Cemetery, Alexandria, Al Iskandariyah, Egypt<ref>Egypt, by Dan Richardson, Rough Guides, 2003, p. 594.</ref>
| occupation       = [[Poet]], [[journalist]], [[civil servant]]
| signature        = C-p-cavafy-signature.svg
| nationality      = Greek
| awards           = Silver medal of the [[Order of the Phoenix (Greece)|Order of the Phoenix]]
| native_name      = Κωνσταντίνος Καβάφης
}}

'''Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis''' ({{langx|el|Κωνσταντίνος Πέτρου Καβάφης}} {{IPA|el|ka'vafis|}}; 29 April ([[Old Style|OS]] 17 April), 1863 – 29 April 1933), known, especially in English, as '''Constantine P. Cavafy''' and often published as '''C. P. Cavafy''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɑː|ˈ|v|ɑː|f|i}}<ref>{{Cite Dictionary.com|Cavafy}}</ref>), was a Greek poet, [[journalist]], and [[civil servant]] from [[Alexandria]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Before Time Could Change Them|publisher=Theoharis Constantine|year=2001|pages=13–15}}</ref> A major figure of [[modern Greek literature]], he is sometimes considered the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/c-p-cavafy|title= C. P. Cavafy|website=Poetry Foundation|access-date=28 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://poets.org/poet/c-p-cavafy|title=C. P. Cavafy |website=Poets.org|access-date=28 September 2022}}</ref> His works and consciously individual style earned him a place among the most important contributors not only to [[Greek literature|Greek poetry]], but to [[Western literature|Western poetry]] as a whole.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-P-Cavafy|title=Constantine P. Cavafy - Greek writer|access-date=28 January 2018}}</ref>

Cavafy's poetic canon consists of 154 poems, while [[Constantine P. Cavafy#Work|dozens more]] that remained incomplete or in sketch form weren't published until much later. He consistently refused to publish his work in books, preferring to share it through local [[newspaper]]s and [[magazine]]s, or even print it himself and give it away to anyone who might be interested. His most important poems were written after his fortieth birthday, and were published two years after his death.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=C.P. Cavafy - Biography |url=http://www.cavafy.com/companion/bio.asp |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213014805/http://www.cavafy.com/companion/bio.asp |archivedate=13 February 2014 |access-date=5 July 2008}} Retrieved 7 December 2006.</ref>

Cavafy's work has been translated numerous times in many languages. His friend [[E. M. Forster]], the novelist and literary critic, first introduced his poems to the English-speaking world in 1923; he referred to him as "The Poet",<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=10 November 2014 |title=Cavafy Museum {{!}} Hellenic Foundation for Culture |url=https://hfc-worldwide.org/museums/cavafy-museum/ |access-date=27 December 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> famously describing him as "a Greek gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Forster |first1=E. M. |title=Pharos and Pharillon |date=1923 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vH8VAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> His work, as one translator put it, "holds the historical and the erotic in a single embrace."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Margaronis |first1=Maria |title=Mixing History and Desire: The Poetry of C.P. Cavafy |journal=The Nation |date=15 July 2009 |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mixing-history-and-desire-poetry-cp-cavafy/ |access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>