Angelos Vlachos

Angelos S. Vlachos was born in Alexandria, though originally from Athens, and was the grandson of the writer and politician Angelos Vlachos (1838–1920). His father was a judge. He studied at the Law School of the University of Athens and joined the diplomatic service in 1939. He was conscripted during the Greco-Italian War and fought on the Albanian front. In 1943, he was imprisoned by the Germans but managed, after much effort, to escape to the Middle East, where he joined the Greek government-in-exile based in Cairo. After the liberation, he pursued a career as a diplomat (First Secretary at the embassies in Ankara and Rome, Consul General in Jerusalem and Nicosia, and Greek representative in Geneva), rising to the rank of Greek Ambassador to Moscow, whilst also distinguishing himself in the political arena (Deputy Minister of Education in the Pipinelis caretaker government in 1963, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until the declaration of the April dictatorship and his resignation, Minister to the Prime Minister in the government of national unity in 1974).

He made his literary debut in 1945 with the chronicle-style prose work ‘The Old Woman’s Grave’, which drew its subject matter from the war in Albania. For his literary work, he was honoured with the Group of Twelve Award (1954 for the novel “My Master Alcibiades”), the Ministry of Education Prize (1958 for the novella ‘Hours of Life’ and 1968 for the collection of short stories ‘Daimas the Lucky’), the Academy of Athens Prize (1972), and in 1985 he was elected a member of the Academy of Athens in the Literature/Prose section. He was also involved in journalism, contributing to Athenian newspapers under the pseudonym Andreas Velos. Historical themes dominate the prose works of Angelos S. Vlachos, whether as an attempt at a comprehensive representation of a specific era, or as the integration of individual cases into the corresponding historical context. His writing is carefully structured, austere and emotionally restrained.