Giorgos Mpekas

 

 

Giorgos Mpekas

Main character: Inspector Giorgos Mpekas
Country of origin: Greece
Main location: Athens

Creator: Yannis Maris (pseud. of Yannis Tsirimokos)
Born in: Skopelos, Greece
Born on: 6 November 1916
Died in: Athens, Greece
Died on: 13 November 1979
Nationality: Greek

Literary series started in: 1953, Έγκλημα στο Κολωνάκι (Eng. transl.: Crime in Kolonaki)
Original language: Greek
Publisher: Atlantis – Pechlivanidis Brothers
Number of books (original editions): 24
Latest title published in: 1978, H απαγωγή (Eng. transl.: The Kidnapping)
Translations: English, Italian and French

Film Adaptations:

Έγκλημα στο Κολωνάκι, 1959 (Eng. transl.: Crime in Kolonaki)
Producer: Tzal Films
international distribution: No

Έγκλημα στα παρασκήνια, 1960 (Eng. transl.: Crime Behind the Scenes)
Producer: Th. Damaskinos & T. Michailidis – Techni
international distribution: No

Αμφιβολίες, 1964 (Eng. transl.: Doubts)
Producer: Roussopoulos Brothers; Giorgos Lazaridis; T. Sarris; K. Psara
International distribution: No

TV-film adaptations:

Ο εφιάλτης, 1985 (Eng. transl.: The Nightmare), based on the novel Επικίνδυνο καλοκαίρι (Eng. transl.: Dangerous Summer)
Producer: Georgiadis Ilektroniki
International distribution: No

Ο δολοφόνος φορούσε σμόκιν, 1985 (Eng. transl.: The murderer Wore a Tuxedo)
Producer: Georgiadis Ilektroniki
International distribution: No

Television series adaptations:

Ο θάνατος του Τιμόθεου Κώνστα  (Eng. transl.: The Death of Timotheos Konstas)

Television series started in: 1987
Producer: Andreas Lappas (Hellas TV Productions)
Number of seasons: 1
Latest season broadcast: 1987
Transnational distribution: No

O μυστικό του Άρη Μπονσαλέντη (Eng. transl.: The Secret of Aris Bonsalenti), based on the novel Ζήτημα εμπιστοσύνης (Eng. transl.: A Matter of Trust)

Television series started in: 1990 
Producer: Andreas Lappas (Hellas TV Productions)
Number of seasons: 1
Latest season broadcast: 1991
Transnational distribution: No

Μια γυναίκα από το παρελθόν (Eng. transl.: A Woman From the Past)

Television series started: 1992
Producer: Andreas Lappas (Hellas TV Productions)
Number of seasons: 1
Latest season broadcast: 1992
Transnational distribution: No

Oι ιστορίες του αστυνόμου Μπέκα (Eng. transl.: The Stories of Policeman Mpekas)

Television series started: 2006
Producers: Dionysios Panagiotakis, Dimitris Papandreou (PLD Productions)
Number of seasons: 2
Latest season broadcast: 2008
Transnational distribution: No

Case study rationale:

Yannis Maris (pseudonym of Yannis Tsirimokos, 1916-1979) is considered one of the most important Greek crime fiction authors, because he managed to assimilate the genre of crime fiction, which was already very successful in Greece as mainly an imported literary and cinematic genre, into the modern Greek social, political and culture context. Maris was an active journalist, columnist and reporter; nevertheless he became popular thanks to the almost fifty crime fiction novels he wrote between 1953 and 1978. The main character of his most successful works is Inspector Giorgos Mpekas, a middle-aged detective, whose unassuming appearance is deceptive: on the one hand, he is a well-fed and kind of conservative family man of the 1950s-60s; on the other, he is a restless and ingenious crime solver, who retains a strong moral code. In some of Maris’ novels, Mpekas appears towards the end of the story, as a deus ex machina, to solve the mystery. Some of the cases involve Greek former Nazi collaborators and their activities during the German Occupation of Greece (1940-1945). Giorgos Mpekas can be considered as the most transmedial and iconic Greek crime fiction figure. Indeed, from the early 1950s to the late 2000s, Maris’ novels, after their initial release as serials in widespread newspapers, were not only republished several times, but were also adapted in the form of strip comics, films, TV movies and TV series, most of the times with great audience response. Furthermore, in 2012, as a tribute to Yannis Maris, a group of contemporary crime fiction authors wrote a collection of short stories, Η επιστροφή του αστυνόμου Μπέκα (Eng. transl.: The return of Inspector Mpekas), having Giorgos Mpekas as main character.

Online research resources

 

Watch

The Literary Word of Yannis Maris [in Greek]:

The Literary Word of Yannis Maris [in Greek]:

18 Studies for Yannis Maris: the Writer – the Work – the Period (2016) [in Greek]:

18 Studies for Yannis Maris: the Writer – the Work – the Period (2016) [in Greek]:

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