Dimitris Sapranidis

Dimitris Sapranidis studied Fine Arts at the Athens School of Fine Arts. He worked in various journalistic roles for the newspapers "To Vima" and "Ta Nea" (1955-1973), and as head of free reporting at "Rizospastis" (1975) and "Mesimvrini" (1980). He was the director of the magazine "Syllogi" (Papachrysanthou Publications, 1973), editor-in-chief of the magazine "Anti" (1974), director at "Radiotileorasi" (1994-1997), and Director of Publications at ERT, from where he retired in 1998. He also served as editor-in-chief of television news bulletins and head of reporting at various times. During the Dictatorship in 1967, he was expelled from the Journalists' Union and sentenced to one year in prison. In 1971, at his art exhibition in Athens, he presented forty anti-dictatorial posters, among which "Bus Only" and "Chronogram" were circulated illegally, but the exhibition was forcibly closed after three days. He was the creator and responsible for the show "Monologues" (1976) and the first two-hour teletext "Telegrafos" (1985) on ERT-1 television. Additionally, on ERT's Second Radio Program, he hosted the first three-hour live show "Every Day Everywhere" (1982). In 1974, he published a volume introducing "Political Caricature in Greece: From its Beginnings in Ancient Greece" with Papazisis Publications, and in 2001, with Potamos Publications, he released the first volume of the detailed "History of Greek Caricature" (from antiquity to 1967) and in 2006, the second volume (from the dictatorship of April 21 to the present day). This two-volume work was awarded in 2007 by the Athanasios V. Botsis Journalism Promotion Foundation and received a special award in memory of Apostolos Magganaris. His previous books include: "Chronicle of 1961: As Seen by Cartoonists Around the World" (Fexis Publications, 1961), "Laughter and Tears in the Dock" [from the daily humorous columns of "Themis' 24 Hours" published by "Nea" for ten years (1963)], "Archidame, Go Home!" [a satire of the classical era in ancient Athens, (Exantas Publications, 1979)], "Good Morning, Andreas. Hello, Kostas..." (Christopoulos Publications, 1996), and the historical diary of Vice Admiral Georgios Sachtouris "567 Days in the Aegean" [from the naval struggle of '21 (Vergina Publications, 1997)].