[1][2] Elias Venezis was born and raised in "Aivali" (the hellenized pronunciation of Ayvalık), where he completed high school.

In 1914, Venezis’ family fled from Ayvalik to Lesbos to avoid persecution but returned to Asia Minor after the Greek army took over Smyrna and its hinterland in 1919.

When the area was recaptured by the Turkish Army in 1922, Venezis was taken prisoner and enslaved in a “labour battalion”.

The prisoners were marched into the interior, but few arrived at the destination, since most of them were either killed on the way, or died of the hardships they were exposed to.

[5] His major novels are about his life in Asia Minor: Aeolian Land describes the lost Eden of his childhood summers; Number 31328 the horrific experience of the death marches, and Tranquility his struggle to adjust to living in Greece.