Nikos Dimou (; born 1935 in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece) is a Greek writer and columnist and copywriter.

Biography

He graduated from Athens College and studied French literature in Athens. From 1954 to 1960, he studied philosophy at the University of Munich in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He published his first book in 1953. In 1962, he started working in advertising as a copywriter. In 1965, he founded his own company. Other than trading commercials, the company created goodwill ads and public initiatives (e.g. ''I don't forget'' for

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

). In 1983, he withdrew from all business ventures in order to work full-time as a writer. In 1979, Dimou started writing columns for magazines, including '' Epikaira'' (''Current Issues''), '' 4 Trochoi'' (''4 Wheels''), '' Tetarto'' (''Quarter'') and '' Photographos'' (''Photographer'') and newspapers including '' To Vima'', '' Kathimerini'', and the Sunday editions of '' Eleftherotypia'' and '' Ethnos''. Dimou hosted his first talk show on Greek television in 1979, ''Μία Ταινία – Μία Συζήτηση'' (''A Movie – A Discussion''), and returned in 1987 with a show called ''Διάλογοι'' (''Dialogues''). He also ran ''Περιπέτειες Ιδεών'' (''Adventures of Ideas'') in 1991, and ''Μεγάλες Παρεξηγήσεις'' (''Big Misunderstandings'') in 1999. As for

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

, he was part of the team that founded Athens 98.4 FM. Later, he had a show on the Third Programme of the ERA state radio. He has won two journalist awards ( Abdi İpekçi Award and Botsis Award). In 1997, he became an honorary citizen of

Ermoupoli Ermoupoli (), also known by the formal older name Ermoupolis or Hermoupolis ( < "Town of Hermes"), is a town and former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality on the island of Syros, in the Cyclades, Greece. Since the 2011 loca ...

, his mother's hometown. Dimou was awarded the Dimitris Mitropoulos award in 2000. Dimou has published over 60 books, mostly light non-fiction, including ''On the Unhappiness of being Greek'' (''Η δυστυχία του να είσαι Έλληνας''), ''The New Greeks'' (''Οι Νέοι Έλληνες''), ''The Lost Social Class'' (''Η Χαμένη Τάξη''), ''Apology of an Anti-Hellene'' (''Απολογία ενός Ανθέλληνα''). He has done some hobby photographic work, published two photo albums and has had three photo exhibitions. For seven years he was a columnist in the Greek free press magazine LIFO and lately published in the site "Protagon.gr". His book "On the Unhappiness of being Greek" has been reprinted 40 times and has been translated into at least 10 languages. Poems of his have been translated in Italian (Book of Cats as "La Gatta di Corfu"), Portuguese and Spanish. 2014 he also published a new book in Germany "The Germans are to blame for everything". ("Die Deutschen sind an allem Schuld"). In politics, he failed to become elected in the European Parliament election in 2009 for the Greek party Drasi. In March 2014 he became a member of the new Greek party " The River" ("Το Ποτάμι" ''To Potámi''). He resigned one month later because of a difference of opinions on state-church relations.

Books

* ''Par' ola Afta'' (''Παρ' όλα αυτά'', ''Nevertheless''), * ''Mikra Vimata'' (''Μικρά Βήματα'', ''Short Steps''), * ''Imerologio tou Kafsona'' (''Ημερολόγιο του καύσωνα'', ''Diary of the Heat Wave'') * ''Tolmires Istories'' (''Τολμηρές Ιστορίες'', ''Bold Stories''). Popular philosophy: * ''To Apolyto kai to Tavli'' (''Το απόλυτο και το τάβλι'', ''Backgammon and the Absolute'') * ''Triptyque: Communication, Love, Freedom'' (''Τρίπτυχο: επικοινωνία, αγάπη, ελευθερία'', ''Triptycho: Epikoinonia, Agapi, Eleftheria''). Poetic books: * ''To Vivlio ton Gaton'' (''Το βιβλίο των γάτων'', ''The Book of Cats''), * ''Poiimata 1950–1990'' (''Ποιήματα 1950–1990'', ''Poems 1950–1990'') * ''Listes'' (''Λίστες'', ''Lists''). His works also include light

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s and aphorisms: * ''I Dystihia tou na Eisai Ellinas'' (''Η δυστυχία του να είσαι Έλληνας'', ''The Unhappiness of being Greek'') * ''Apologia enos Anthellina'' (''Απολογία ενός Ανθέλληνα'' = ''Apology of an Anti-Greek'') * ''Prosengiseis'' (''Προσεγγίσεις'', ''Approaches'') * ''Dokimia I: Odysseas Elytis (''Δοκίμια Ι: Οδυσσέας Ελύτης'' = ''Essays I: Odysseus Elytis'') * ''Dokimia II: Ta Prosopa tis Poiesis'' (''Δοκίμια ΙΙ: Τα πρόσωπα της Ποίησης'', ''Essays II: The Faces of Poetry'') * ''I Teleia Diadromi'' (''Η τέλεια διαδρομή'', ''The Perfect Drive / Route'') * ''Psifiaki Zoi'' (''Ψηφιακή Ζωή'', ''Digital Life'')

Autobiographies An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This Literary genre, genre allows individua ...

: * ''Apo tin Michail Voda stin Syrou'' (''Από την Μιχαήλ Βόδα στην Σύρου'', ''From Michail Voda treetto Syros treet') * ''Apo tin Odo Rinou stin Hess Strasse'' (''Από την οδό Ρήνου στην Ες Στράσε'', ''From

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

Street to Hess Strasse'') * ''Odos Galinis'' (''Οδός Γαλήνης'', ''Calm Street'') * ''Oi dromoi mou'' (''Οι δρόμοι μου'', ''My streets'') Nikos Dimou translated poems from English, German and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and also translated ''The Voices of Marrakesh'' by Elias Canetti.

Biography

Books

References

External links