Odysseas Elytis, born Alepoudelis in 1911 in Heraklion, Crete, comes from an Eastern Orthodox family and currently lives in Athens. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1979. Along with Konstantin Kavafis and Giorgos Seferis, he is considered one of the great contemporary Greek poets. His fame as a lyricist, as the "poet of resistance," was established by his "Lament and Mourning Song for the Lost Lieutenant in Albania." His major work is the hymn-like poem "To Axion Esti - Blessed Be," which dates back to 1959 and has been partially set to music by Mikis Theodorakis. Elytis is also known in his homeland as a significant translator of the works of Lorca, Mayakovsky, Paul Éluard, Rimbaud, and Brecht's "Caucasian Chalk Circle.".