Vasilis Periklis Dimitriou was born on Feb. 18, 1936, in Pogoniani, a village in northern Greece, to Periklis and Konstantina (Douka) Dimitriou. His father, a fighter in the Greek resistance, was often away from home as the German Army advanced. When Vasilis was 8, Nazi troops captured his father and took him away to be executed beside a mass grave. When the manager discovered that Vasilis had a talent for drawing, he invited him to try his hand at painting movie billboards. He is survived by his wife, Angeliki Dimitriou; his daughter, Konstantina Dimitriou; and a grandson.

Source: New York Times September 14, 2020 20:14 UTC