Poet. Constantine Petrou Cavafy is remembered as a distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century. Born the youngest of nine children, his father died suddenly in 1870. At that point, his widowed mother relocated with the children from Alexandria to Liverpool, England, as his father was a naturalize British citizen and some of the older children had been born in England. His father and his uncle had been in the import-export business, which led to his residence in Egypt. The older children attempted to maintain their father's business during an economical depression in England, while the younger children received an English education. He was a strong student of history, especially Greek history, which would be seen in his later writings. The family's fortune had been lost. By 1877 the family had returned to Alexandria, but had to escape to Greece fearing the break of war. The Bombardment of Alexandria by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place between July 11 and 13, 1882. During this attack, the family lost their home and belongings. Some of his siblings returned to Alexandria, while he, still a teenager, stayed in Greece with his mother. Eventually, he joined his older siblings in Alexandria. He found employment as a newspaper writer and then held a position at the Egyptian Stock Exchange for five years. He did publish a few poems in the newspaper and a magazine during this time. In the late 1880s, he became his brother's clerk at the Ministry of Public Works. After being promoted to Assistant Director of the Department of the Ministry of Public Works, he retired in 1922. During his lifetime, this poet lived in relative seclusion and publishing little of his work, but sharing his poems with friends. Before World War II, a short collection of his poetry was privately printed and in 1947 the collection was reprinted with new verses. One of his most acclaimed poems is the 1904 "Waiting for the Barbarians." This followed with the 1911 "Ithaca," which talks about a person's journey: "When you depart for Ithaca, wish for the road to be long, full of adventure, full of knowledge. Fear not the Laestrygonians and the Cyclopes, nor the angry Poseidon." In the 1961 volume, "The Complete Poems of C.P. Cavafy," the introduction of the book talks openly about the author's non-traditional intimate life style. This was republished in 1976, yet with more poems added to the collection. No matter which poem, critics use the word "eroticism" to describe his writings. Most of his poems were written after his age of 40. He wrote a total of 155 poems with a few dozen more that were incomplete. Two years after his death, his poems were formally published. Many of his poems have been translated to English and published in collections of poems by various authors. Even his unfinished poems have been published in an English collection in 2009. He died of laryngeal cancer eleven years after his retirement. His apartment has become a museum. In the 21st century, his poems are taught as part of the public-school curriculum in Greece and Cyrus.