Iakovos Kambanelis

Iakovos Kambanellis (Greek Ιάκωβος Καμπανέλλης; born December 2, 1921 in Chora on the island of Naxos, † March 29, 2011 in Athens ) was a Greek playwright, screenwriter, poet and writer.

Life and work

He was arrested in 1943 in Austria and brought to the concentration camp Mauthausen in Upper Austria, where he was detained until the camp was liberated by the Allies on 5 May 1945. The time just before the liberation and the following month he described in his novel Mauthausen, in German translation under the title The freedom came in May 2010 appeared. In the German-speaking world, he became known mainly through the settings of his Mauthausen cantata by Mikis Theodorakis. Kambanellis created numerous plays and several screenplays, including the screenplays of Stella and O drakos ( The Dragon ). He was one of the most influential Greek artists of the 20th century. On 29 March 2011 Iakovos Kambanellis died in Athens.

Note to the arrest and deportation: Iakovos Kambanellis was when he tried to leave the country at Austria to Switzerland, was arrested and deported to detention and temporary storage into the Mauthausen concentration camp because of his lack of papers. He was not a resistance fighter, as is often mistakenly claimed.