Dimitris Liantinis

Life & Legacy

Dimitris Liantinis (; Greek: Δημήτρης Λιαντίνης [ʎa(n)ˈdinis]; born Dimitrios Nikolakakos; born 23 July 1942, disappeared 1 June 1998) was a Greek philosopher. He was associate professor at the Department of Pedagogy of the Faculty of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology of the University of Athens, teaching the course "Philosophy of Education and Teaching of Greek Language and Literature". He has written nine books. His last and most seminal work, Gemma (Γκέμμα) has been translated into several languages.

A great lover of Ancient Greek culture, he devoted his life to studying and reinterpreting their cultural heritage. He wrote on various philosophical issues, including education, morality and death. He emphasised the need to incorporate the Ancient Greek ideas and morals into the modern Greek education system and also held explicit views on the decline of Western culture.

He has achieved popularity in Greece because of his strange and unexplained disappearance on the morning of 1 June 1998 at the age of 55 years. It is thought that he died as a result of suicide in 1998 on the mountains of Taygetos. His last university lecture was delivered on 27 May 1998. In his letter to his family, he wrote, "I go away by my own will. I disappear standing, strong, and proud."