Agelos G. Elefantis

Angelos Elefantis (1936-2008) was born in Karpenisi and lived in Evrytania until 1947. He completed his secondary education at Chalandri High School and graduated from the Law School of the University of Athens in 1962. From 1964 to 1974, he lived in Paris, where he studied anthropology and sociology at the Sorbonne and history at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, attending the seminar of Georges Haupt. In 1968, following the split of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), he joined the KKE Interior. He actively participated in the publication of the magazines "Hellenic Presence," "Poreia" (the organ of EPES, the association of Greek students in Paris, where he served on the board for many years), "L' Autre Grece" (an anti-dictatorial publication by Greeks in Paris), and "Agonas" (the organ of the KKE Interior organization in Paris). In 1973, he presented his work "Le Parti Communiste de Grece devant la resistance." In 1976, he founded and began directing the magazine "O Politis." That same year, he published "The Promise of the Impossible Revolution: KKE and Bourgeoisie in the Interwar Period" (published by "Olkos," reissued by "Themelio" in 1979 and 2000). During the post-dictatorship period, through the columns of the magazine and his public presence, he vigorously defended the ideas of the Renewing Left. He participated in the "Movement of 400" and other initiatives for the formation of the Renewing Left space. Some of his political writings were included in the collection "The Unfound Socialism" (published by "O Politis," 1982). In 1987, he joined the KKE Interior - Renewing Left, where he was a member of the Political Secretariat. He was a founding member and key collaborator of the newspaper "I Epohi" and the magazine "Kappa." In the late 1990s, he began writing for the newspaper "I Avgi," where he served successively as vice president, president, and board member. In 1991, he released his work "In the Constellation of Populism" (published by "Polis"). From July 2000 until his death, he edited the supplement "Enthemata" ("Opinions and Ideas/Discourse and Arts") of the "Sunday Avgi." Angelos Elefantis was a candidate on the State Ballot of the KKE Interior in 1985, on the ballot of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) in the Evrytania region in the 2004 elections, and again with SYRIZA in Evrytania in the 2007 elections. He was married to Marianna Ditsa and had two children, Nikola and Anna. Other books by him include: "With the Naked Eye" (published by "Polis," 1998), which includes texts published in "O Politis," "The Fortnightly Politis," "I Epohi," and "I Avgi" from 1976 to 1997, "Minima Memorialia: The Story of My Grandfather" (published by "Polis," 2001), "They Took Athens from Us...: Rereading History 1941-50" (published by "Vivliorama," 2002). He contributed to many collective volumes, including "The Janus of Nationalism and Greek Balkan Policy" ("O Politis," 1992; "Vivliorama," 2007), "Of the Unseen: Three Speeches for the Book of Pagona Stefanou" ("ASKI"/"Themelio," 1998). He also authored the chapter "The Resistance Phenomenon" in the multi-volume collective work "History of Modern Hellenism, 1770-2000," edited by Vasilis Panagiotopoulos. He edited and translated many books and articles. He passed away in Athens after battling cancer on May 29, 2008, at the age of 72. (photo from Paris, 1966-1967)