Yiannis Sakellarakis

Born in Athens in 1936. He graduated from the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Athens, holds a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg and has been a member of the Greek Archaeological Service since 1963. He served in many parts of Greece, in Crete at the Heraklion Museum, initially as curator (1963–1968) and later as its director (1980–1987), and in Athens as curator and superintendent of the Prehistoric Collections (1970–1980) and as deputy director (1987–1994) of the National Archaeological Museum.

He conducted excavations at Archanes, together with his wife Efi Sakellaraki, as well as at the Idaion Andron and, most recently, at Kythira, where he discovered Zominthos. He taught at the Universities of Athens, Hamburg and Heidelberg. He has published numerous books and articles, mainly on the early civilisations of the Aegean. He has given dozens of lectures around the world and participated in numerous conferences and symposia.

He is a member of many Greek and international scientific societies. He was awarded a prize, together with Efi Sakellaraki, by the Academy of Athens and was honoured with the gold medal of the University of Crete.