The Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, as part of its Distinguished Individuals series, is organizing an event on the life and work of Eleni Vakalo on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. in the event hall of the Hellenic Parliament, 22-24 Amalias Street, entrance on Rallous Manou Square.

Eleni Vakalo (1921-2001) was born in Istanbul. She studied archaeology at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens and then took postgraduate courses at the Sorbonne, specializing in art history. A multifaceted personality, she served with vigor and success in three areas of intellectual life: poetry, art criticism, and education. She made her literary debut at a very young age, in 1945, publishing her first poems at the urging of Gatsos and Elytis. She subsequently published 14 poetry collections and, in 1991, was honored with the First State Poetry Prize, while her poems have been translated into many languages. From 1952 to 1974, she worked as an art critic for the newspaper Ta Nea, with a two-year hiatus during the dictatorship. She was also an art critic for the magazine “Zygos” during its first period of publication from 1955 to 1967. In 1957-58, she turned her attention to education and, together with her husband Giorgos Vakalo, Panagiotis Tetsis, and Frantzis Frantziskakis, they established the first school of Fine and Applied Arts in Greece, the Vakalo School. She taught Art History and Theory there until 1990, while also serving on the school’s board of directors alongside painter Daniel Gounaridis and architect Timoleon Misio, a position she actively served until the last day of her life. From 1994 until the end of her life, she was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Gallery.

Keynote Speakers

• Yannis H. Papaioannou, architect at the National Technical University of Athens, PhD in Art History and professor of Art History at the Vakalo School, on the topic “Eleni Vakalo and the Vakalo School”
• Maria Kakavoulias, professor emeritus of the Department of Communication, Media & Culture at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, on “The poetry of Eleni Vakalo”
• Eleftheria Delazanou, art historian and doctoral candidate in Art History at the Athens School of Fine Arts, on the topic: “The art criticism of Eleni Vakalo”
• Charis Kanellopoulou, art historian and scientific director, curator of the Art Collection at the Bank of Greece, on “The studies of Eleni Vakalo on post-war art”

The event will be coordinated by Irini Orati, artistic director at the Ioannis F. Costopoulos Foundation and member of the scientific committee of the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy.

Free admission for the public upon presentation of police ID.