Professor Yannis Sakellarakis (1936–2010) was born in Athens. He studied at the University of Athens and read for a PhD at Heidelberg University. He was an instructor at the universities of Athens, Heidelberg, and Hamburg. He gave lectures and presented papers in symposiums and conferences around the world, including Oslo and Petra, Tokyo, New York, Oxford, London, Princeton, and Harvard. He was published widely in Greek and foreign scientific magazines, including ARCHAEOLOGY in 1967 (pp. 276–281). He was director of the Archaeological Museum of Iraklion, Crete, and the second director of the National Archaeological Museum at Athens. Also, he was a member of the Archaeological Society at Athens, the Deutsches Archäogisches Institut, and the Society of Antiquaries of London.
He excavated at Archanes, the Idaean Cave, and Kithira, and in recent years had been systematically excavating, along with his wife, Dr. Efi Sapouna-Sakellarakis, the archaeological site of Zominthos. He received awards from the Academy of Athens, the Technological Education Institute of Crete, and the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation. Also, he was honored with the Gold Medal of the University of Crete and the Gold Cross of the Order of Honor of the Greek Republic.
