Many of Greece’s most celebrated actors, poets and writers did not remain on the sidelines during World War II. Instead, they served on the Albanian front and later in the National Resistance, proving that cultural figures were prepared to share the same hardships as ordinary soldiers.
Lambros Konstantaras
At 27, the popular actor volunteered as a reserve officer and fought on the Albanian front alongside his close friend, poet Odysseas Elytis. Konstantaras was seriously wounded in battle. Elytis carried him to safety. Metal fragments left in his body caused lifelong problems with his hip and head. After recovering, he requested to return to the front and was decorated for his service.
Dionysis Papagiannopoulos
Called up in 1940, the actor took part in intense mountain fighting near Chimara. He later described climbing under fire and fighting with stones when ammunition ran out.
After the capitulation he walked home to Diakofto. During the Occupation he continued performing and once refused to meet the notorious German official Max Merten.
Mimis Fotopoulos
During the Occupation, Fotopoulos joined the National Liberation Front (EAM). He used his education to spread resistance ideas and performed with the United Artists troupe in underground theatres protected by ELAS. After the war he was arrested for his leftist beliefs and briefly exiled to El Daba in Africa.
Kostas Hatzichristos
A Military Academy graduate, Hatzichristos fought on the Albanian front.
After suffering frostbite he was transferred to hospital duties in Koritsa, where he later discovered that a local woman he had befriended was collaborating with the Italians.
Manos Katrakis
The distinguished actor served on the front line and later joined the Resistance through EAM and the Communist Party. He refused to sign a declaration renouncing his beliefs and spent nearly seven years in exile on Makronisos and Ai Stratis.
Odysseas Elytis
The future Nobel Prize-winning poet enlisted as a second lieutenant and served in the combat zone. He fell seriously ill with typhoid in early 1941.
His poem Heroic and Elegiac Song is widely regarded as a tribute to the fallen of the Albanian campaign.
Angelos Terzakis
The writer and essayist also fought on the Albanian front. His son later recalled the shocking sight of his father returning home bearded, lice-ridden and in tattered uniform. Terzakis recorded his wartime experiences in several works, including the book April.
These famous Greeks of arts and letters did not seek to avoid military service. They stood alongside ordinary soldiers, endured the same dangers, and later helped shape the cultural life of the nation in peacetime.