Yannis Smaragdis Becomes First Greek Director in European Academy
The European Academy of Sciences and Arts has elected renowned Greek director Yannis Smaragdis as a full member, representing contemporary Greek culture. He is the first Greek director to join the academy since its founding in 1990.
The Academy is based in Salzburg, Austria, and operates under the patronage of the presidents of 12 European nations.
The official ceremony welcoming the Greek director as a new academic member in the Academy’s Arts section will be held at the Academy’s headquarters in Salzburg in March 2025. This is a significant honor that acknowledges Smaragdis’ profound cultural impact and 40-year legacy.
Yannis Smaragdis directed celebrated films
The Cretan-born director has directed celebrated films such as “Cavafy”, “El Greco” and “Kazantzakis,” which were widely loved by audiences both in Greece and outside the country’s borders.
“Cavafy” is a schematic biography of one of the most prominent Greek poets, Constantine P. Cavafy. The film was released in 1996 and received positive reviews.
On the last day of his life, C.P. Cavafy, ill in hospital, is visited by a young writer who wants his approval to publish a study on the poet’s life. The poet begins a journey back in time, gradually remembering all the incidents and all the people that left their mark on his life.
“El Greco” is a biographical film about the life of the Greek painter of the Spanish Renaissance, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known worldwide as El Greco.
Based on the fictionalized biographical novel, El Greco: o Zografos tou Theou (El Greco: the Painter of God), by Dimitris Siatopoulos, it was released in 2007, directed by Yannis Smaragdis and written by Jackie Pavlenko.
Smaragdis: It’s an honor for the Greek film
“It is a great honor to be elected by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts as a member in the field of Arts and Culture,” stated Yannis Smaragdis, further adding that he views this distinction as a duty to honor the Greek film and theatre directors who have left an indelible worldwide mark through successful films and stage productions.
“There are many talented Greeks who merit this recognition in fields such as music, painting, literature, and theater,” he added.
“I must reach out, particularly to the filmmakers and television creators, where numerous Greek directors are already gaining international prominence, not to emphasize my own success but to highlight the legacy of great creators of our nation in recent centuries—the fathers of modern Greek culture.
They have fused core Greek values with contemporary international movements in a spirit of creative exploration, integrating their works into our national and, simultaneously, European and global tradition,” Yannis Smaragdis noted.
He was born in Crete in 1946 and studied film in Greece and Paris, France. He appeared in 1972 with his short film Two Three Things… which received the first prize in the Athens Festival.
Smaragdis has taught Mass Media courses at the Panteion University of Athens, as well as film direction and screenwriting at film schools in Greece. He has published 2 books: Poetic Geography (1995) and Cavafy (1997) – a literary form of the script of the film Cavafy.
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