Kariotakis (1896-1928) was born in Tripoli, Greece on the 30th of October 1896.
Because of his father's profession, civil engireer working for the Greek government, young Kariotakis
spent his early life being moved from place to place.
He began writing and publishing poetry at the age of 16. Upon receipt of his law degree from the University
of Athens, he accepted a clerical position in the Office of the Attorney General in Athens; then transferred to
Thesaloniki; then Patra; and finally to Preveza, where he committed suicide in the morning of 21 July 1928!
His first book of poems, The Pain of Men and Things, was published
in 1919; the second, Nipenthi, in 1921; and the third and
last, Elegies and Satires, in 1927. His poetry is a revolt against the
emotionalism of romanticism and is heavily inluenced by the despair and loneliness of his life.