Greek theatre critic and professor Dimitris Tsatsoulis dies aged 74

Death and tributes

Dimitris Tsatsoulis died on 25 October at the age of 74. Greek outlets reporting on his death on 26 October described him as a theatre critic, writer, researcher and university teacher who worked in Greek theatre for decades. The news drew expressions of grief from the theatre and academic communities.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni issued a statement mourning him and calling him a tireless figure in the theatre.

“I learned of the loss of Dimitris Tsatsoulis with sorrow, a tireless and important theatre person.”

In the longer statement, Mendoni praised his broad education and described him as a critic, theorist and university teacher. She also recalled his period as president of the ministry's Theatre Advisory Committee.

“A man of broad and varied studies, but, far more, of immense learning and culture.”

Education and early career

He was born in Athens on 31 December 1952. He studied at Panteion University and then, on an IKY scholarship, at Paris II, where he worked on public international law. He went on to postgraduate studies in political sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and attended the Institut International de Luxembourg, where his subject was the decisions of the European Court and how member states applied them.

In Paris he also studied Russian language and literature. After returning to Greece he studied French language and literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Academic career

He was emeritus professor of Theatre Semiotics and Theory of Performance at the University of Patras, where he taught from 1997 at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Naftemporiki reported that he taught in the university's Department of Theatre Studies. Earlier accounts also mention his time at the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Outside the university he taught at the Themelio and Tzeni Karezi drama schools between 1996 and 2003, and at the Experimental Stage workshop of the National Theatre in 1999 and 2000. Naftemporiki also lists a drama therapy centre and a summer academy of the National Theatre in 2001.

Writing and criticism

Naftemporiki reported that he published dozens of studies in Greek and international journals and gave more than 70 lectures and papers at Greek and international conferences. He was responsible for many years for the series "Art of the Spectacle" at the publisher Ellinika Grammata, where he edited 32 volumes of theoretical and theatrical texts.

His books include a 2024 study of the director Theodoros Terzopoulos, a 2019 work on the dramaturgy of Loula Anagnostaki, and a 2018 study of Kambanellis's Ibsen references. He also wrote reviews of theatre, dance and books for the daily and periodical press over many years. Skai and Naftemporiki describe him as an active member of the Hellenic Union of Theatre and Performing Arts Critics, and Naftemporiki calls him a founding member.