Antonis Samarakis (Αντώνης Σαμαράκης)

samarakis

Antonis Samarakis (1919 - 2003) was a Greek writer contemporary postwar generation. His work is characterized by its humanism, its commitment against the danger of totalitarianism, and reflection on the alienation of man in the modern world. He was a goodwill ambassador of UNICEF for his country in 1989.

Samarakis studied law at Athens University and was an official at the Ministry of Labour. He began his literary career publishing poems in literary journals and magazines in the thirties, but soon switched to writing prose. During the occupation of Greece by Germany in the Second World War, Samarakis took part in the resistance movement. In 1944, he was arrested by the Germans and sentenced to death , but fortunately escaped before the sentence was carried out.

Samarakis's works have been translated into more than 30 languages. It has a strong element of social commentary and reflects his personal concerns about the present and future of modern society.