Michalis Taroudakis 
25/10/2023


It was with great sadness that I learned today of the loss of Giorgos Grammatikakis, Professor Emeritus and former Rector of the University of Crete. With Giorgos Grammatikakis, we were connected by a long tradition of friendship that began immediately after my descent to Crete and the University of Crete 30 years ago and continued uninterrupted until his last journey into eternity. He honored me with the position of his interlocutor on academic, social and cultural issues that concerned him throughout his life and shared with me his concerns and thoughts about how we will move as a society into a better future. I closely watched his solid administration at the University of Crete and its opening to the world. I closely followed his journeys in society through his books, his television shows and his many outreach actions with the public and the positions of responsibility he held, which brought scientific research and philosophy closer to every thinking person.


  When I received a phone call from him in 2012, I was surprised to hear him asking for my consent to nominate me as his replacement on the Board. of the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum as a representative of the University of Crete. My first thought was that it was impossible to fill the void he would leave in the Museum, considering the magnitude of his contribution. An invaluable offer as he was the one who led the Museum to the new era and extroversion. He then encouraged me to dare because he himself dared to face all challenges and convinced me to succeed him. The responsibility is great, but George was always close to his colleagues, encouraging them with his persuasive and direct speech. I did the same with me. All I want now is for him to judge favorably, as a heavenly judge now, of my account at the end of my term.


Giorgos Grammatikakis leaves the earthly world and passes into the world of eternity emitting light. It will become a shining star, special among the stars and will lead us to the world of spirit and responsibility, as the other great Cretan, Nikos Kazantzakis, whose Museum served with calculation and vision, our beloved George, would have wanted.


I wish him a good eternity.