Periklis Korovesis | |
Birth Date: | 1941 7, df=y |
Birth Place: | Argostoli, Kefalonia, Greece |
Death Place: | Athens, Greece |
Other Names: | Pericles Korovessis |
Occupation: | Author, journalist, and member of the Hellenic Parliament |
Notable Works: | The Method: A Personal Account of the Tortures in Greece (Anthropofylakes in Greek) |
Periklis Korovesis (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Περικλής Κοροβέσης; 20 July 1941 – 11 April 2020), also published as Pericles Korovessis, was a Greek author and journalist and a member of the Hellenic Parliament.
Korovesis was born in Argostoli, Kefalonia, in 1941. He studied theatre with Dimitris Rontiris and Semiotics with Roland Barthes. He also attended some classes of Pierre Vidal-Naquet in Paris. From an early age, Korovesis participated actively in the democratic movement. During the military junta (1967–1974) he was arrested, imprisoned and exiled. His first book, The Method: A Personal Account of the Tortures in Greece (Anthropofylakes in Greek), is a personal account of the tortures that he experienced at the police headquarters in Bouboulinas Street at the time of the Colonels' military junta. Korovesis' story was a significant testimony for Amnesty International and the Council of Europe in order to file charges against the regime of the colonels for the appalling treatment of political prisoners.
Korovesis was an elected Member of Parliament with the left-wing party Coalition of the Radical Left (SY.RIZ.A) in the 2007 Greek legislative election for the Athens A constituency. He failed to be re-elected MP in 2009 elections. He was an advocate of human rights, immigrants, environmental issues and Greek diaspora.[1]
Korovesis' first book titled Anthropofylakes has been translated into French (Seuil, 1969), English (Allison & Busby, 1970, and Panther, 1970), Swedish (Rubén et Sjӧrgen, 1970), Finnish (Weilin+Gӧӧs, 1970), Norwegian (Gyldendal, 1973), Turkish (Yӧntem, 1972, & Alan Yayincilik, 1989), German (Zweitausendeins,1981 and Raith,1976), Portuguese (Publicaciōes Europa-America,1970).[2] He also wrote poetry and children's stories.
Korovesis wrote articles for Eleftherotypia, Epochi and Efimerida ton Syntakton newspapers and for the magazine Galera. His personal blog was titled Left Recycling.
Korovesis died, aged 78, in an Athens hospital on 11 April 2020.[3]