Antaios CHrysostomidis

The author, translator, and journalist Antaios Chrysostomidis (1952-2015), son of the historical figure of the Left, Sofianos Chrysostomidis, and Irini, was born in Cairo in 1952. He studied architecture at the School of Architecture of the University of Rome and worked as an architect until 1982. In Italy, he became politically active with the Interior Communist Party of Greece. He was a leading member of the party's youth organization, "Rigas Feraios," and his journalistic career began with its magazine "Thourios." He later worked for mass-circulation magazines and collaborated with the newspaper "Avgi," where he signed the literary page "Peridiavazontas." In 1998, he took over the direction of the foreign literature series at Kastaniotis Editions, where he curated works by authors from around the world, setting a standard for Greek publishing. He translated into Greek works by Italo Calvino, Antonio Tabucchi (all his works available in Greek), Curzio Malaparte, Alberto Moravia, Dario Fo, Leonardo Sciascia, Dino Buzzati, and other great Italian writers. In 1999, he published the book "A Shirt Full of Stains" (Agra Editions) with Antonio Tabucchi. He also published the books "Leonidas Kyrkos, the Dynamics of Renewal" (2011), "The Antennas of My Era," Volumes A and B (2012 and 2013, respectively), all with Kastaniotis Editions. From 2006 to 2013, he co-directed with Mikela Chartoulari the documentary series "The Antennas of Our Era" on ERT, which introduced the Greek public to significant living foreign authors in their life and creative environments. As a translator, he taught translation in postgraduate programs at the University of Athens and the European Centre for the Translation of Literature (EKEMEL). In 2003, he was awarded the State Prize for Foreign Literary Translation for Antonio Tabucchi's novel "It's Getting Later and Later." In 2004, the Italian State awarded him the title of Knight of Labor, honoring him for his contribution to the spread of Italian culture. In the 2014 European elections, he was a candidate with the Democratic Left party (DIMAR). He passed away suddenly in Athens on August 14, 2015, due to health complications. His political funeral, according to his last wish, was held at the First Cemetery.