Vassilis Vassilikos ( el, Βασίλης Βασιλικός, born 18 November 1934) is a Greek writer and diplomat.

Biography

He was born in

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

to parents native to the island of

Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate re ...

. His father was an MP with the Liberal Party. He grew up in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, graduated from law school there, and moved to Athens to work as a journalist. Because of his political activities, he was forced into exile for seven years, following the coup of 1967. From 1981 to 1984, Vassilikos served as the director of the Greek state television channel ( ET1). Since 1996, he has served as Greece's ambassador to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Work

As an author, Vassilikos has been highly prolific and widely translated. He has published more than 100 books, including novels, plays and poetry. His best-known work is the

political novel Political fiction employs narrative to comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fantast ...

''Z'' (1967), which has been translated into 32 languages and was the basis of the award-winning film '' Z'' directed by

Costa-Gavras Costa-Gavras (short for Konstantinos Gavras; el, Κωνσταντίνος Γαβράς; born 12 February 1933) is a Greek-French film director, screenwriter, and producer who lives and works in France. He is known for films with political and s ...

(with music by

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...

). It also inspired the Indian film 'Shanghai' which released to critical acclaim. Vassilikos and his late wife Dimitra (Mimí) were friends with the American poet

James Merrill James Ingram Merrill (March 3, 1926 – February 6, 1995) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for ''Divine Comedies.'' His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyri ...

; the death of Mimí serves as a critical late plot turn in Merrill's epic poem, ''

The Changing Light at Sandover ''The Changing Light at Sandover'' is a 560-page epic poem by James Merrill (1926–1995). Sometimes described as a postmodern apocalyptic epic, the poem was published in three volumes from 1976 to 1980, and as one volume "with a new cod ...

'' (1982). In the United States, Vassilikos has long been associated with and published by

Seven Stories Press Seven Stories Press is an independent American publishing company. Based in New York City, the company was founded by Dan Simon in 1995, after establishing Four Walls Eight Windows in 1984 as an imprint at Writers and Readers, and then incorpora ...

Politics

He ran in the

2014 Greek local elections Local elections were held in Greece on 18 May 2014 (first round) and 25 May 2014 (second round). Voters elected representatives to the country's local authorities, comprising 13 regions and 325 municipalities. Background Traditionally, candidates ...

as a

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...

candidate for counsellor in the city of Athens."Β. Βασιλικός: Γιατί κατεβαίνω υποψήφιος στην Αθήνα με τον Γ. Καμίνη"
@ iNewsgr.com In the

2019 Greek legislative election Legislative elections were held in Greece on 7 July 2019. The elections were called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on 26 May 2019 after the ruling Syriza party lost the European and local elections. They were the first national elections sin ...

, he was elected MP with

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

Selected bibliography

* ''The Monarch'' * ''And Dreams Are Dreams'' * ''The Photographs'' * ''The Plant, the Well, the Angel'' * ''The Coroner's Assistant'' * ''The Harpoon Gun'' * ''The Few Things I Know About Glafkos Thrassakis'' * ''Z'' (English language or )

Translations

* ''The Photographs'', tr. M. Edwards (1971; repr. 1972) * ''The Plant, The Well, The Angel A Trilogy'', tr. E. Keeley, M. Keeley (1964)

References

External links

Vassilikos' home page
from Translatum's anthology o

1934 births Living people People from Thasos People from Kavala Greek diplomats Greek democracy activists Greek journalists 20th-century Greek novelists 20th-century Greek poets Modern Greek-language writers Permanent Delegates of Greece to UNESCO Greek male poets 20th-century Greek male writers Greek MPs 2019–2023 Syriza politicians {{Greece-journalist-stub