Anastasios Alevizos (25 March 1914 – 13 October 1985) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

engraver, etcher and sculptor, who became famous under the name Tassos for his works on significant milestones of the 20th century history of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He was born in Lefkochora of Messesnia in 1914. He studied in the School of High Arts in Athens at the age of 16, from 1933 til 1938 and attended the engraving classes in Kefallinos’ workshop. He was an apprentice in the workshops of great painters and sculptors such as

Demetrios Galanis Demetrios Galanis (, 17 May 1879, Athens – 20 March 1966, Paris) was an early twentieth-century Greek artist and friend of Picasso. In 1920, the year he completed his ''Seated Nude'' (private collection), he exhibited alongside such major fig ...

, Argyros, Parthenis and others. He continued his studies in Rome, Florence and Paris. In 1938 he was awarded the Prize of Engraving and in 1940 the State Medal of Engraving. One of his engravings depicted the 1942 episode where the Greek resistance blew up the Gorgopotamos railway station. EPON-1943

He was politically affiliated with the communist left party since 1930, and during the Occupation he became member of the

United Panhellenic Organization of Youth The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth, abbreviated EPON (), was a Greek resistance organization that was active during the Axis Occupation of Greece in World War II. EPON was the youth wing of the National Liberation Front (EAM) organ ...

() and the National Liberation Front () of artists. During the 7-year dictatorship (1964–1973), Tassos was self-exiled. He was mostly inspired by the struggles of the nation, the natural beauties of Greece and the everyday life of common people. In 1976 he exhibited his works in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

. In 1948 he collaborated with the Greek Publishing Organization of Educational Books (), and from 1962 until his death in 1985 he had been designing the stamps for the

Republic of 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 third lar ...

. He is considered to be one of the most important representatives of Greek engravers and his works were exhibited in USA, Soviet Union, France, Italy and Japan. He also participated in the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

exhibition in 1952.

References

1914 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Greek sculptors 20th-century Greek male artists 20th-century Greek engravers National Liberation Front (Greece) members People from Messini Greek political artists {{Greece-artist-stub