Kallifatides, Theodor

Theodor Kallifatides was born in the village of Molaoi in the Peloponnese in Greece. His father was an elementary school teacher and had come to Greece as a refugee from Turkey. In 1941, Molaoi was occupied by the Germans and his father – who was a socialist – was imprisoned. After his release, the family moved to Athens where Kallifatides matriculated in 1956, and then started Theatre Studies. After doing his military service, which lasted 27 months, he worked for a short time as an actor, but emigrated to Sweden in 1964.