The Team of K.EL.A.L.P.

This page lists the members of the K.EL.A.L.P. team and its collaborators

The Team of K.EL.A.L.P.

Dr. Vasileios Laopodis

Founder and President of CulturePolis

Dr. Vassilios Laopodis, studied Physics in Athens and Business Administration and Informatics in Toulouse, France (PhD). He has worked in the private sector (IBM, FIAT, banking, etc.) as an ICT Engineer / Director, has taught at universities and technology institutes and has given many lectures around the world. He has served as a senior official for 18 years in the European Commission (1988-2006) in policy initiatives and projects related to Research & Technological Development & Innovation / New Technologies, Standardization, the Information Society and its social and cultural impact. He was a founding member of many professional and social organizations (IFIP TC9 / WG8.2 & CEPIS) and is the author of many articles / scientific works and books. In 2006, he founded the non-profit organization CulturePolis (culturepolis.org) in Corfu, coordinating projects and European initiatives in the fields of culture, sustainability, innovation as well as training and entrepreneurship, the cultural and creative sector with an emphasis on Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean. His mother tongue is Greek and he speaks fluent English and French, as well as Italian at a lower level.

Persa Koumoutsi

Author and Translator of Arabic Literature

Director of the Center of Greek and Arabic Literature and Culture (K.EL.A.L.P.)

Persa Koumoutsi, a writer and literay translator, was born in Cairo, Egypt and attended the Ambetio school. She returned to Greece after completing her studies at the Faculty of Αrts of Cairo University. In the first years she taught in Secondary and Higher Education, and since 1993 he has dealt exclusively with literary translation, mainly of Arabic literature in Greek.Among the works translated from Arabic are 14 novels by the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz as well as many works by other distinguished Arab writers and poets. Among other things, her bibliography includes the first Anthology of Contemporary Arabic Poetry in Greek, for which she received the Award of the Hellenic Society of Literary Translators.For her translation work she has also been awarded the International Cavafy Prize in 2001 and a special distinction from the Department of Greek and Italian Studies at the University Al-Azhar, 2015 for the entire work which now amounts to over 40 titles of Arabic literature and eight personal novels, most of which are focusing on intercultural dialogue. Her personal work has also been distinguished and much of it has been translated into Arabic by the National Book Organization and the National Translation Center of Egypt. She collaborates with European universities in interculturalism and dialogue programs and has authored articles, critiques and studies around literature as a means and vehicle of international understanding. Since 2020, she directs the Center for Greek and Arabic Literature and Culture (K.EL.ALP), which aims to promote and strengthen cultural relations between Greece and the Mediterranean countries with an emphasis on the Arab world, through targeted programs to inform and raise awareness of the public on contemporary Greek and Arabic literature, poetry, language and other arts, concluding important collaborations with other cultural institutions in Greece and abroad. For 2022 he was selected to be a jury member of the 'Leila[ program (Arabic literature in European Languages), while he has contributed with original texts to Easmus Plus educational programs on Intercultural dialogue through Literature and translation. She was recently awarded the Achievement Award for Literary Translation and International Understanding, for the Greek language, by the Sheikh Hamad International Organization, in Qatar.

Website of Persa Koumoutsi HERE

Eleftheria Karamitrou

Management and Administrative Support of CulturePolis / K.EL.A.L.P.

Eleftheria Karamitrou holds a Master's Degree in Cultural Heritage Studies from University College of London and is a graduate of the Department of History and Archeology with a degree in Archeology from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Ioannina. She joined CulturePolis in mid-2020 as a volunteer, participating in management support and project preparation work. Since 2020 she has been working at CulturePolis as a project officer in various projects, she is in charge of the secretariat of the Center for Greek and Arabic Literature and Culture - K.EL.A.L.P. as well as being an administrative assistant in matters of communication and support of information technology and social network of the organization. Eleftheria is particularly interested in issues related to the relationship between culture, development, sustainability and tourism. In her free time she plays the piano and dances Greek traditional dances. Her mother tongue is Greek while she speaks fluent English as well as French at a lower level.

Xanthippi Kontogianni

CulturePolis Project Manager

Xanthippi Kontogianni holds a master's degree in heritage management from the Athens University of Economics and the University of Kent, as well as a degree in Mathematics from the University of Athens. She has work experience as a museum educator and coordinator of cultural initiatives and events and has collaborated with various museums, institutions and municipalities in Greece and Italy. Since 2020 he has been working at CulturePolis where she deals with proposal writing and project management. She is also the creator of the informal youth group "astroheasis" - a beneficiary group of the Erasmus + program with experience in youth exchanges and cultural initiatives. Xanthippi is fully involved in the cultural sector and is particularly interested in issues related to astronomical cultural heritage. In her free time, she dances tarantulas and participates in pottery workshops. Her mother tongue is Greek while she speaks fluent English and French.

External Collaborators Team of K.EL.A.L.P.

Khaled Raouf

Translator of Greek Literature

Khaled Raouf born in Alexandria, Egypt, studied History and Archeology at the University of Athens and theater in Greece and the USA. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Chicago and works as a researcher. He translates Greek Literature (Kazantzaki, D. Dimitriadis, K. Politis, Ritsos, Tsirkas, Grigoriadis, Koumoutsi, Sotiropoulou etc.). From English he has translated into Arabic George Bernard Shaw, Tennessee William, Samuel Beckett) and a book on African Theater and Performance of "Kene Igweonu". He collaborates with the National Translation Center, the Book Organization of Egypt and the EIP annex Alexandria.

Eftychia Mylona

Lecturer at Leiden University

PhD candidate in Middle Eastern Studies

Eftychia Mylona is a PhD candidate at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Department of History and Archeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) and her postgraduate studies at the Department of Arabic Studies at Leiden University. Her research focuses on the modern social history of the Greeks of Egypt and the Greek Diaspora in the Middle East. At the same time, she holds a permanent teaching position at the Bachelor program of International Studies (BAIS) of Leiden University, where she teaches history and political economy of the Middle East, among other courses. She speaks English and Arabic fluently and she has a good command of the Dutch and French languages.