Vassilis Vassilikos, a highly acclaimed Greek writer best known for his 1967 political novel “Z,” has passed away at the age of 89.

From 1967 to 1994, with the initial seven years spent in exile to escape Greece’s military dictatorship, he resided and worked in Italy, France, and the United States (New York), with a three-year break (1981-1984) during which he served as the deputy director general of public broadcaster ERT during the socialist administration of Andreas Papandreou.

Throughout his career, Vassilikos held various roles, including assistant director in foreign productions, documentary director, screenwriter, script editor, draftsman at Arte (1990-1993), journalist, and writer.

He collaborated with Greek director Nikos Koundouros on the script of the film “Mikres Afrodites.” Vassilikos served as the ambassador of Greece to UNESCO from 1996 to 2004. He holds the distinction of being the most translated Greek writer after Greek heavyweights Nikos Kazantzakis and poets Yiannis Ritsos and Constantinos Cavafis.

In the 2014 Greek local elections, he ran as a PASOK candidate for counselor in the city of Athens. In the 2019 Greek legislative election, he was elected as a Member of Parliament with the leftist SYRIZA party.

Vassilikos was married to soprano Vaso Papantoniou and leaves behind a daughter.

Source: Ekathimerini.com