Biography

5/14/1935	Born in Athens, Greece.
December 1944	December (4th grade): Publication of his texts in the magazine Paidikos Kosmos (Children’s World).
1947	(6th grade): Enrolled in the ABC School of Design.
1947	Graduated from primary school (Salvanos School). Enrolled in secondary school (Kalpakas School).
1948	(1st year of secondary school): 5th Prize in drawing among all classes of the School.
1950	Summer: Creation of the handwritten magazine Mathitiki Zoi ton Diakopon (Student Life of the Holidays).
1952	Publication of the printed student magazine I Efimeridoula Mas (Our Little Newspaper).
1952	1st Prize in painting, Kalpakas School.
March 1953	Publication of the printed student magazine Paidikos Tachydromos (Children’s Post).
1953	Admitted to the Hellenic Military Academy (Evelpidon).
1954	Third victory in the 3000m race at the Military Games.
1956	First prize in the triple jump at the Military Schools Games.
1956	First prize in the triple jump at the Inter-Club Championship (3rd category).
1956	Graduated from the Military Academy and commissioned as Second Lieutenant.
1956	Attendance in Sparta at the Supply and Transport Training Center (SEM).
1957	Transferred to a unit in Drama.
1958	Medical leave due to a stomach ulcer. Enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Athens (Department of History and Archaeology).
1959	December: Voluntary discharge from the army due to ulcer. Continued studies at the Faculty of Philosophy.
1960	September: Departure for Paris. Enrolled at the École des Arts Appliqués de la Ville de Paris to study interior decoration, stained glass (vitrail), and poster design.
1962	September: Continued studies at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts under Professor Robert Cami.
1963	October: First exhibition (with Theodoros Panto) at Galerie Le Parnasse, Paris.
1964	June: Completion of studies and return to Greece.
1964	Summer: Settled in Mykonos.
1965	Mykonos. Took over Galerie Argo (Argō), in partnership with Luis Orozco.
1967	May 28: Marriage in Athens (Agia Skepi, Papagou) to the German Hannelore Abt
1968	Mykonos. Opening of the Montparnasse Bar-expo of Manolis Petalas, where he exhibited permanently.
1968	llustration of the poetry collection Phantasmes by René de Rouze-Rythal (Jean Grassin editions, Paris) and the first poetry collection of his brother Alekos (Moons and Masks).
1971 - 1972	Six-month residency for work and exhibition in Rothrist, Aargau, Switzerland.
1972	Birth of his son Ἐμμανουήλ (Emanuel) in Switzerland.
1973	Settled in West Berlin. Worked as a freelance artist in Tempelhof. Member of BBK (Berufsverband Bildender Künstler - Professional Association of Visual Artists).
1975	onwards: Increased focus on printmaking (etching, lithography), mainly working at the printing workshop of Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin Kreuzberg , as well as in Switzerland, Austria, and France.
1975	Closure of Galerie Argo in Mykonos.
1975	One month residence and work in Switzerland (Uetikon am See) and another month in France (Lempdes, Clermont-Ferrand).
1977	Member of “Gruppe 70,” West Berlin.
1977	June. Travel to Greece (Athens, Tinos).
1978 - 1979	Teaching painting to children with “Gruppe 70.”
1979	Participation in the illustration of the BBK Berlin calendar with two works (etching and lithograph).
1980	Spring: Travel to Côte d’Ivoire at the initiative of the Ministries of Culture of France and West Germany.
1980	Taught printmaking at the School of Fine Arts of Abidjan; conducted seminars for professors from the Schools of Fine Arts of Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Mali; installation of new printmaking workshops for West Africa.
1980	Participation in the BBK Berlin calendar with two works.
1980	Three works acquired by the State Collection of Berlin.
1980	August: Family vacation in Greece (Tinos, Crete).
1981	Illustration of bibliophile editions with original lithographs; calendar with engravings (BBK Berlin) and other books.
1981	March 28 - May 3: Stay in Paderborn (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) and Deutschlandsberg, Styria (Austria), with friends Heinrike and Nikos Dourdoumas. Creation of original works.
1981	June: Ten-day trip to France (Paris, Clisson) with his brother Alekos.
1981	August: Deterioration of health due to alcohol and other issues. Seven-week hospitalization in Berlin for “physical and psychological treatment.” Health problems of his wife as well.
1982	May: Fire at his home. Destruction of many of his works.
1982	July-August: Re-hospitalization. Creation of four small paintings during his stay.
1983	Participation in the volume Diaspora. Greek Artists Abroad (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for Greeks Abroad, Athens 1983).
1983	March: Hospitalization.
1983	April: Admission to an alcohol rehabilitation center in Belitz, West Germany. Seven-month stay. Creation of 25 small paintings during limited free time.
1983	October: Voluntary departure from the rehabilitation center. Rejected by his wife. Hosted by friends in Berlin.
1983	November: Ingestion of methanol (used for dissolving paints; unclear whether a suicide attempt or an impulsive act of despair). Loss of eyesight and end of artistic career. Thereafter, residence in Berlin with his family.
1985 - 1995	Annual visit to Greece (Tinos or Athens) for a two-month stay with his mother and brother.
1996	onwards: Progressive deterioration of his health.
2/2/2011	Death of his wife Anna.
12/7/2011	December 7: His death in Berlin. Burial at the Alter Sankt-Matthäus-Kirchhof cemetery (grave D-006-008, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin).

This biography is derived from the book by Alekos E. Florakis, My Brother the Painter. Mathèos Florakis (1935 - 2011): From Cubism to Fantastic Realism (Athens: Hellenic Homograph Editions, 2023) -