Kephallinos Giannis

Giannēs Kephallēnos (1894 –1957) was a distinguished Greek engraver, book designer and professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts. He was born in Alexandria to a wealthy bourgeois family with Kefalonian and Chian roots. He discovered his artistic inclination very early and, despite his parents' objections, studied Art History and painting in Paris, where he lived for several years. In 1930 he returned to Athens and in 1931 undertook the Engraving Laboratory at the School of Fine Arts. His students were great later Greek engravers such as Vasso Katraki, Costas Grammatopoulos, Tassos (Alevizos), Giannis Moralis, George Varlamos, Telemachos Kanthos, while his Workshop was a creative and democratic oasis in very difficult times. With the declaration of war in 1940, he put his Laboratory and his students at the service of fighting Greece, publishing posters with patriotic / propaganda content, while in 1943 he was imprisoned because some of his works disturbed the Italian occupation authorities. In the 50's he was involved in the design of stamps on behalf of ELTA and also designed a font under the name Theokritos for the publication of the album Ten white lekythos of the Museum of Athens (1956). In 1954 he was elected director of ASKT, a position he would hold until his death. His work is distinguished for its perfection and its pioneering dynamism. Kefallinos was never interested in promoting his work, justifying the characterization "the Silent", given to him by P. Prevelakis in his obituary.