Vassilis Vassilikos, a renowned Greek writer and diplomat, was born on November 18, 1934, on the northern Greek island of Thassos. He grew up in Salonika, where he graduated from law school before moving to Athens to pursue a career in journalism.
However, his political activities led to his forced exile following the 1967 military coup, during which he spent the next seven years. After his return to Greece, Vassilikos served as the general manager of the Greek state television channel ET1 between 1981 and 1984.
Since 1996, he has been serving as Greece's ambassador to UNESCO, a testament to his diplomatic prowess. As an author, Vassilikos has been incredibly prolific, publishing over 100 books that have been translated into multiple languages.
His most famous work is the political novel Z (1967),which has been translated into thirty-two languages and was the basis for the award-winning film Z directed by Costa-Gavras. In addition to his literary achievements, Vassilikos has been involved in various public controversies, including his condemnation of the withdrawal of Ersi Sotiropoulos's book Zigzag Through the Bitter-Orange Trees from Greek school libraries in 2008.
In 2001, Petros Tatoulis had requested the withdrawal of the same book, characterizing it as pornographic due to its provocative sexual content.
