Akakia Kordosi

Akakia Kordosi was born in Messolonghi. She studied classical French philology in Greece and modern philology at the University of Dijon in France. She served at the French Embassy and in secondary education as a teacher. She has written the novels: "The Arson," "Imaginary Summers," "Like Music at Night," "The Double Journey"; the short story collections "Who If I Cried Out," "Gray Days," "Thirteen Voices of Silence" (which was also published in France and received the Grand Prize for Literature in 1991 from the French Academy), "The Cranes," "The Emperor's Lost Steps," "The Secret World of Professor Anagnostou"; the essay collection "Analogies" and "The Messolonghi of Beauty and Spirit"; the studies "Speak Messolonghiot" (Academy of Athens Award) and "The Painter Tasos Mantas," "Get to Know Messolonghi," and "Eight Letters from Fotis Kontoglou to Dimitris Kasolas," as well as the theatrical sketch "A Man Called Byron" (performed on the 150th anniversary of the poet's death). For her work and her promotion of contemporary Greek literature abroad, she has been unanimously declared an Honorary Doctor of Philology by the University of Athens. She has also been awarded by the Academy of Athens for her linguistic study. Recently, she was honored with the Gold Medal from the Center for European Studies.