Kallifatides was born in 1938 in Molai, Laconia Prefecture in Peloponnesus, southern Greece and studied acting in Athens. He moved to Sweden after serving his mandatory military service in Greece and studied philosophy in the University of Stockholm. He was the director of the literary magazine Bonniers Literara Magasin for four years. He published novels, poem collections, travel essays and theatre play scripts and screenplays, while he has also directed a big screen film. He has received significant international awards for many of his works and most of his novels have been translated into 13 languages.Source: ANA - MPA