Theodoros PAPAGIANNIS was born in Elliniko, Ioannina, Greece, in 1942.

He studied sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1960 to 1965, in the workshop of Yannis Pappas, while also learning plaster work and bronze casting under Nikos Kerlis. In 1967, with a scholarship from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation, he travelled in Greece and the wider Mediterranean region to study ancient Greek art, visiting places including Egypt, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Southern Italy and Sicily. He later continued his research into new materials and techniques in Paris.

Papagiannis is one of the most important contemporary Greek sculptors. His work is deeply connected with the human figure, memory, history and the material traditions of Greece. Drawing inspiration from ancient Greek sculpture, folk culture, the landscape of Epirus and the experience of modern society, he developed a powerful sculptural language marked by monumentality, symbolic force and sensitivity to material.

His sculptures are characterised by strong forms, expressive surfaces and a profound sense of human presence. Working with bronze, marble, stone, wood, iron and found materials, he creates figures and compositions that often evoke procession, ritual, collective memory and the continuity between past and present. His public works are installed in Greece and abroad, including the well-known sculpture *The Runners* at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

Alongside his artistic practice, Papagiannis has made a major contribution to art education. He taught at the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he became Professor of Sculpture, and he has been involved in the organisation of sculpture symposia and public art projects in Greece and Cyprus.

In 2009, he founded the Theodoros Papagiannis Museum of Contemporary Art in the former school of his native village, Elliniko. The museum and the surrounding sculpture route have become an important cultural site, connecting contemporary sculpture with education, community and the landscape of Epirus.

Theodoros Papagiannis remains recognised as a leading Greek sculptor, admired for his monumental vision, his respect for material and tradition, and his lasting contribution to contemporary Greek sculpture.