George Leonardos

Infobox Writer
name = George Leonardos


caption =
birthdate = 20 February 1937
birthplace = Alexandria, Egypt
occupation = novelist, critic, journalist

George Leonardos (Greek: Γιώργος Λεονάρδος) is a Greek author of historical novels. Son of Anastase and Maria, he was born in Alexandria Egypt on 20 February 1937. His father died when he was two years old. He lived with his mother in Alexandria until 1954. He was an avid reader of fiction and history, and as a high school student in Alexandria had his short stories published in Tahidromos and Anatoli, the Greek daily newspapers of the city. In 1954 he moved to Greece to study Physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

After his graduation, he studied journalism and began to work as a journalist. He worked as a reporter for major Athens newspapers Apogevmatini, Eleftherotypia, Mesimvrini, Eleftheros Typos, Ethnos and as a columnist in the financial paper Kerdos. He was the first correspondent of the Athens News Agency in Belgrade in 1964, and later in New York in 1976, where he was also appointed director of the local Greek newspaper Ethnicos Kirikas. He has also worked as a newscaster in the Greek Radio and Television (Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi)and ANT1 TV in Greece, and has reported on the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf war.

He is a member of the Editor’s Association of Daily Press in Greece and the National Society of Greek Writers. His first novel, Grandma’s Red Sofa, was published in 1992. He was twice the prize for best historical novel by the Greek Society of Christian Studies for his novels Mara, the Christian Sultana and Sleeping Beauty of Mystra. He was awarded a Botsis Foundation prize for his services to journalism and literature.

He has written the novels: Grandma’s Red Sofa, 1992, The House Above the Catacombs, 1993, Eva, 1994, The Magnet’s Poles 1995, Earth's Lovers, 1996, A Song from the Soul, 1997. His historical novels are: Barbarossa the Pirate, 1998, which was also published in England, Italy and Spain, Mara, the Christian Sultana, 1999, Mary Magdalene 2001, Sleeping Beauty of Mystra 2003, [Michael VIII Palaiologos] 2004, The Palaeologues, 2006 and The Last Palaeologue, 2007. In 1980 he published the English-Greek Dictionary of Scientific and Military Terms, and in 2000 he published The Structure of the Novel. His latest historical novel is Sophia Paleologue Palaelogina - From Byzantium to Russia.

Works

Novels

* "Grandmam's red sofa", 1992
* "The house over the catacombs", 1993
* "Eva", 1994
* "The magnet's poles" 1995
* "Earth's lovers", 1996
* "A song from the soul", 1997.

Historical Novels

* "Barbarossa the Pirate", 1998
* "Mara, the Christian Sultana", 1999
* "Maria Magdalene", 2001
* "Sleeping Beauty of Mystra", 2002
* "Michael VIII Palaeologue", 2004
* "The Palaeologues", 2006
* "The last Palaeologue", 2007.
* "Sophia Paleologue - From Byzantium to Russia", 2008