Andreas S. Sarantopoulos

Andreas Sarantopoulos was born in 1915 in the village of Agrilia Messini. He completed high school in 1932 and enlisted as a volunteer in the army in 1934. In 1939, he graduated as a second lieutenant from the Military Services Officers' School. He participated in the Albanian War and later in the National Resistance (ELAS). From 1945 to 1953, he spent time in prisons and exile. He taught himself Russian, wrote a Russian grammar book (1957), and successfully translated most works of Russian classics and many works by Soviet authors. He translated the "World History" (20 volumes), published by the USSR Institute of Social Sciences (first Greek edition by "Melissa" in 1956, second in 1965). He has also written and published a four-volume work on resistance and post-resistance titled "Small and Great People."