George Zongolopoulos

George Zongolopoulos
Zongolopoulos in 1990
Born	Georgios Zongolopoulos 1903 Athens, Greece
Died	2004 Athens, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Known for	sculptor, architect and painter

George Zongolopoulos (Greek: Γιώργος Ζογγολόπουλος, Athens, 1903- Athens, 2004) was an important Greek sculptor, painter and architect. Zongolopoulos, who was often called the “eternal teenager” was a representative of the so-called “Generation of 1930s” while his work extends from the 1920s until his late life.

Zongolopoulos was born on 1 March 1903, in Omonoia, Athens. His family hailed from Markasi (nowadays Manna) in Corinthia. Since his childhood, Zongolopoulos showed a talent in art and some years later (1924), after the end of his military service (where he became associated with Patroklos Karantinos) and despite the fact that his family did not encourage him to follow an artistic career he entered the Athens School of Fine Arts where he studied sculpture under Thomas Thomopoulos.

During his years in School of Fine Arts he became a persistent supporter of the demands for modernisation and reorganisation of the School as also for the need of a higher budget for School's operation. Because of his views and attitude, Zongolopoulos was expelled from School in 1929. His suspension ended a year later, after the intervention of the famous poet Ioannis Griparis. As a student Zongolopoulos, along with other fellow students, had a significant contribution in the appointment of Konstantinos Parthenis (a major representative of modernism in Greek art) as a teacher in the School of Fine Arts.

From 1926 to 1928 Zongolopoulos worked as an assistant of the renowned architect Anastasios Orlandos in the Department of Restoration of Ancient and Byzantine Monuments of the Greek ministry of Education. His spell under Orlandos was his first step in his occupation with architecture, which later became a major part of his artistic career.