Active member of the anti-dictatorship struggle, restaurateur and well-known television actor. A typical Greek figure left for Germany.
Costas Papanastasiou, known in Germany as an actor and owner of the famous Greek restaurant Terzo Mondo, died in Berlin last Sunday, November 21, at the age of 84. Born on February 8, 1937 in a village of Karditsa, K. Papanastasiou left in 1954 to study civil engineering in Vienna. Two years later, in 1956, he came to West Berlin, completed his studies and worked for a while as a research associate at the Polytechnic, while also taking acting classes. In the mid-60s, when the student movement erupted in Germany and especially in West Berlin, Costas Papanastasiou actively participated, at the same time being a member and executive of the EDA. The left will remain until the end of his life his political space – either as a member of the KKEes, or as a non-member, or as a member of Syriza.
During the junta of the colonels he is at the forefront of the anti-dictatorship struggle – in events, in demonstrations, in concerts he gives with his guitar singing Theodorakis. In 1972 the Terzo Mondo (Third World) restaurant opens in the center of West Berlin. Terzo became an institution in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Its patrons are students, intellectuals, artists, well-known politicians, who come more for the endless discussions that last until dawn than for the food. Costas Papanastasiou becomes known throughout Germany as the Greek restaurant of the “Acropolis” tavern in the most popular German series Lindenstrasse. From 1985 to 1996 as “Panagiotis Sarikakis” appears in almost all episodes that are played weekly. The fame he gained then is so great that even today tourist tour buses stop at Terzo Mondo.
He suffered from dementia
For many years, Costas Papanastasiou has been organizing humanitarian aid for Georgia. During the Greek debt crisis, he participated in the public debate and criticized the prejudices and stereotypes expressed in the German media against the Greeks. For his social contribution, Costas Papanastasiou was honored in 2012 by the President of the Republic, Joachim Gauck, with the Cross of the Order of Value. He will later complain that his attitude was the reason why so many customers no longer come to Terzo. For the last two years, Costas Papanastasiou suffered from dementia and lived in a hospital.
Panagiotis Kouparanis, Berlin
DW
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