Vallias Semertsides

Born Feb. 18, 1911, in Ekateri-nodar, Russia. Greek graphic artist and painter.

Semertsides has lived in Greece since 1922. From 1928 to 1935 he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Athens under K. Parthenis. In 1943 and 1944 he fought as a partisan against the fascist German occupation forces.

A realistic artist, Semertsides affirms in his works the dignity of man, vividly depicting scenes of labor and episodes from the people’s fight for freedom. Examples of these works include The Orator (1943–46), A Worker in Melanthoni (1956), the series of drawings Children of Hunger (1942–43), Antifascist Cycle (1962), and a cycle devoted to Vietnam (1966).