Lykourgos Kallergis(1914-2011)

Lykourgos Kallergis was a Greek actor, director, drama teacher, writer, translator and politician. His father, Stavros Kallergis, was the pioneering socialist leader and organizer of the first Labor Day in Greece. He moved to Athens at the age of 10 and later, finishing high school and his military service, he began studies at the drama school of Karolos Koun's Laiki Skini. He appeared on stage for the first time in 1934 with the same troupe in the leading role of Erofili by Georgios Hortatsis. A founding member and protagonist of the Art Theater (1942-1950), Kallergis offered over 60 years of service to the Greek theater, a period during which he took part in many plays, dramas and comedies. He was also a recognized protagonist in various independent theater troupes and for 18 years a protagonist of the National Theater, of which he was a teacher of the drama school. He participated in productions in Athens, the province and abroad, performing prominent roles in plays of Greek and international drama: ancient tragedy, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Strinberg, Pirandello, Gogol, Gorky, etc. In his theatrical career he met and collaborated with Marika Kotopouli, Katerina Andreadi, Aimilios Veakis, Katina Paxinou, Kyveli, Alexis Minotis and others. After the Metapolitefsi, he became involved in politics and in 1977 he was elected a member of the Communist Party of Greece in the 1st District of Athens. He was a member of the Union of Greek Actors, where for a decade he was General Secretary (1956-1957) and for a short time President. He was also President of the Panhellenic Federation of Spectators and Audiences as well as Vice-President of the Actors Pension Fund. In the international arena, he had taken part in the Conferences for Peace in Frankfurt (1976) and Sofia (1977). He was also a member of the Society of Greek Playwrights, a member of the Society of Greek Directors, an honorary member of the Society of Greek Writers of Piraeus and an honorary member of the Parnassos Philological Association. He was the only Greek actor who had been honored with the "Pirantello Award", while he had also received the "Veaki Award" as well as honors from the Municipality of Athens, many municipalities of the country, cultural associations and institutions. On May 14, 2007, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Department of Theater Studies of the University of Athens. Kallergis passed away in 2011.