Georgios Athanas

GEORGE ATHANAS (1893-1987) George Athanas (the literary pseudonym of Georgios Athanasiadis-Nova) was born in Nafpaktos, the brother of Themistocles Athanasiadis-Nova, a writer, journalist, and critic. He studied at the Law School of the University of Athens and worked in journalism for twenty-five years, collaborating with newspapers such as Akropolis, Politeia, Athinaiki, and Neos Kosmos. He pursued a career in politics, initially as a member of parliament with the Freethinkers' Party (of Ioannis Metaxas) and later with the Progressive Party (of Georgios Kafantaris), the Liberal Party, and the Center Union. He served as Vice President of the Parliament, Minister of Interior, Education, Industry, and Presidency of the Government. In July 1965, he became Prime Minister, but resigned a few days later after his government was voted down by the Parliament. From 1965 to 1966, he was Vice President of the Greek government under Stefanos Stefanopoulos. In the field of literature, he is primarily known as a poet. His writing is characterized by lyricism, with themes drawn from the rural life of Roumeli. He was awarded the Academy of Athens Prize for his short story collection "Simple Souls" (1931). He passed away in Athens. For more biographical details on George Athanas, see Dimitris Giakos, "Athanas George," Great Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature, Athens, Haris Patsis, 1968, and h.s., "Athanasiadis-Novas Georgios," World Biographical Dictionary, Athens, Ekdotiki Athinon, 1983. (Source: Archive of Greek Writers, EKEBI).