Dionysios Solomos

Dionysios Solomos statue in Zakynthos (city)

Dionysios Solomos (/ˈsɒləmɒs/; Greek: Διονύσιος Σολωμός [ði.oˈnisios soloˈmos]; 8 April 1798 – 9 February 1857) was a Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty (Greek: Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν, Ýmnos eis tīn Eleutherían), which was set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros and became the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966 respectively. He was the central figure of the Heptanese School of poetry. He is considered the national poet of Greece, not only because he wrote the national anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature. Other notable poems include Ὁ Κρητικός (The Cretan), Ἐλεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι (The Free Besieged). A characteristic of his work is that no poem except the Hymn to Liberty was completed, and almost nothing was published during his lifetime.