Yannis Diamantis, now an Honorary Lawyer, excelled as a Criminal Lawyer for 53 consecutive years in the courts of Larissa and beyond, while he handled about 15,000 cases...
"No one can become a competent lawyer unless he is a cultivated man"... is the phrase he used to close his speech "The supplies of the Lawyer for the exercise of his role in the criminal trial" at the seminar organized by the Larissa Bar Association in October 2014 in his honor, after his retirement in April 2014, when he was 85 years old. The President of the Athens Bar Association Mr. Vassilis Alexandris and the President of the Union of Greek Criminal Lawyers Mr. Christoforos Argyropoulos participated in the conference.
Two months ago, in February 2021, Thrasyvoulos Kontaxi's book "Forms of Greek Criminalists" was published by Livani publications, which was "motivated" by the Union of Greek Criminalists. It includes only 24 legal forms of pan-Hellenic scope - the criminologists of the region are only five of them -, which made an impression in Athens as well, over 65 years old with high legal training and above all erudition at multiple levels. Yiannis Diamantis is among the top three at the pan-Hellenic level.
Interview with Evi Botsaropoulou
Along with fighting law, Giannis Diamantis is known for his great cultural contribution to the city. He was one of the founding members of the Association of Friends of Thessalian Theater and was also the president of the Board of Directors of Thessalian. He also participates in the Electoral Council of the Public Library.
It has a rich and rare collection of works of art and its library numbers 7,380 volumes, which will be given to the Public Library. He has already donated five works of naive painters to the Folklore - Historical Museum of Larissa and another three to the Municipal Art Gallery of Larissa - G. I. Katsigra Museum, having even been awarded for his contribution by the Association of Friends of the Art Gallery in 2019. His office, in set of his furniture, is to be given to the Folklore Museum. The furniture is hand-carved by the Skopelite craftsman Ioannis Kritsini.
At 93 years old, he remains a man fully alert and lucid. He writes articles, re-reads the ancients, exchanges opinions with friends on many subjects, while at the same time working on his autobiography, which, as he characteristically says at the end of the interview, "But Larissa is the protagonist!"...
With his flowing speech, finesse and politeness, he is always a charming conversationalist, who amazes you with the quality of his knowledge and memory. Yiannis Diamantis is perhaps the last living intellectual of Larisa from another era...
Mr. Diamantis, you were born in Karditsa, you spent your childhood in Skopelos, then High School and studies in Athens and Law in Thessaloniki... You came to Larissa in 1954 where you stayed. Why did you choose to live in the city?
Indeed, in 1954 I came to Larissa with my wife Eleftheria who was a Public Health Visitor stationed at a Health Center. I was placed as an administrative officer of the same center that was also the headquarters of 5her Health Region (Thessaly). I was involved in the organization of Rural Clinics and the administrative supervision of nursing institutions. Larissa was chosen by the UN World Health Organization as the center of a rural area, but as the seat of the Experimental Health Unit. This entire period was crucial. All the employees made great efforts, because they realized that they were carrying out a serious task for the reconstruction of our country. When the NHS was later established, I remembered how pioneering the project was, which was also the starting point for further successful development... Now, of course, everyone accepts the necessity to strengthen the NHS, which is constantly fighting to fight the pandemic with a medical, nursing, auxiliary and administrative staff who fight with self-denial and self-sacrifice…
As soon as I got my law degree, in early 1961, I resigned from the Service and joined the Athens Bar Association as an intern. All my relatives were settled in Athens and they urged me to stay there. But I had already made many friends from Larissa who convinced me after one semester to stay here.
The people of Larisa with a mental embrace together with the characteristic touch of the hand on the back, make you feel that you are not a stranger. When you have good company, you now feel like a Larisaian... The houses are open. The atmosphere is warm... Unfortunately I lost many precious friends. But my younger ones are close to me and I am proud of them. With the passage of time and with the great professional and social experience I gained, I found that many foreigners and several of my friends, made careers and distinguished themselves and I stayed here forever.
It is no accident that many retired judges and others do not return to their native country, but remain here.
Has it always been your dream to become a lawyer?
I have always had the dream of becoming a lawyer. But a brother of my mother, a doctor, insisted that I enter Medicine to succeed him. So I entered the Medical School of the University of Athens, after successfully taking the first post-war entrance exams in 1946. I stayed for two years and, although I performed well, left with the prospect of entering law school. However, my employment intervened in the organization of Health Centers, which had been founded by the Hellenic War Care of America, an organization of expatriates from the USA and Canada, as the Head of Administration of the Health Center of Filiatra and Pharsala.
I obtained the Degree of Pantheon to improve my official relationship and then while working I also obtained the degree of Law. Before I left the Service, a Troika - beneficial but not like the memo of the crisis - had come to the Experimental Health Unit, consisting of World Health Organization officials Friedberg (Danish), Thomson (English) and Fontrose (French). They suggested that I be hired at the WHO European Office in Geneva to retrain in the field of Biostatistics... It was a big dilemma, I spent many "white" nights with my wife at the time, but my decision, which surprised them, had been made: Law.
How much has Larissa changed since 1954 when you settled until today?
The change of Larissa is evident. Our city quadrupled its population. With the implementation of the consideration, the single-family houses with their yards were replaced by the concrete high-rise buildings. Bells were ringing when the seventh floor addition was approved!
What do you miss from old Larissa?
I miss the first house we rented at 35 Karathanou Street. A beautiful detached house with a raised ground floor and wonderful functionality. In the yard, between rose bushes, rose the big pine tree that shaded me during my readings. Later, of course, we were also cemented in a privately owned apartment... And our old detached house had the same fate of the profitable consideration...
What is the most important moment in the history of modern Larissa?
I believe it was the moment of the revelation of the Ancient Theater.
How easy is it for a collector to part with pieces of his collection and proceed with donations?
I have said it before that visual works of art when they satisfy the aesthetic pursuits of the owner, must end up in city museums to become the property of the many. After all, the donor does not lose contact and also feels the joy of giving. The same goes for books.
You were a founding member of the Association of Friends of Thessalian Theater and a member of the Ephorate Council of the Public Library. Does Larissa produce culture? How do the people of Larissa assimilate him?
In Larissa there are many centers of culture. The ancient theater is a world heritage site. When the restoration project is completed, it is to be inaugurated with a major performance by the Thessalian Theatre. Also, with a corresponding performance of Thessalikos, the big stage of the Foreground Culture (OUHL) must be inaugurated. Until then, let's be content with the 2nd Ancient Theatre, but also with the reformed Garden Theatre. And these two produce culture.
The Municipal Gallery - Museum of Georgios Katsigras has the richest collection of works of all the provincial galleries.
The Public Library has 90 thousand volumes. There is also a great range of old books. The oldest (Venice edition of 1513) contains all of Plato! Financial assistance is sought because their maintenance, which has already begun, requires a large expenditure. Indeed, I am still involved in administration as a member of the Public Library Board of Governors. But the Municipal Library also offers a valuable project.
The Municipal Conservatory has produced great artists, even of global scope such as Myrto Papathanasiou. The symphony orchestra is considered one of the most important in Greece.
The Timeless Museum contains valuable exhibits of a children's nature. Our Folklore Museum highlights the great popular cultural wealth. I believe it is the most important provincial museum in the country.
Much has been written and volumes have been published about the contribution of the Thessalian Theatre. Let us remember the statement of Georgousopoulos. He said, if I remember correctly, that he is calm about the future of the theater in Greece, when he found out its value... "It is enough that the Thessalian Theater breathes".
Indeed, I was one of the first founding members and President who served for a while and followed its entire course and I am especially glad that today it continues the great work.
The pandemic caused a halt to the major activities developed by the aforementioned cultural centers and of course the Theatre. After its passing, I predict that we will have a Larissa cultural explosion, which is strengthened by the Municipal Authority that has made culture its main concern.
So to your question, if Larissa produces culture and how the people of Larisa assimilate it, I answer that even the famous sculptures of great artists in our city are cultural assets. The people of Larisa assimilate the culture with their massive attendance and participation in all the cultural events, in the theater performances and in the movie nights in Hatziyanneio and in the open-air, wonderful space of Barbi Vozalis, in the book readings and in the presentations in the many amphitheatres that exist in the city .
The first play you saw in Larissa? Shows you still remember?
The first play of the Thessalian Theater was "The Court of Miracles" by Iakovos Kampanelis. I watched all the performances of Thessalikos, but I am satisfied with Brecht's "Chalk Circle" and "Electra" which was a great success of Kostas Tsianos.
What are the 3 shops that left history in the city?
One was the "Alcazar" center of Vretopoulos. Shelter for the nights, especially at the end of the summer, when artists who played in the centers of Thessaloniki were stationed in Larissa after the period of the Exhibition (TIF). The second was the SEK bar with great orchestras and the third was "Oasis" with Pantelis Tikakis.
Your favorite Larissa sound, smell or taste?
I'll just say for a taste... Unforgettable are the appetizers of "Tambaki", the dishes of "Travel Stop", the grilled dishes of Panos Street. They satisfied all the gastronomic requirements.
Through your autobiography, do you also outline Larissa?
But Larissa is the protagonist! 67 years is the longest part of my life. These include, of course, the 53 years of a well-known intense fighting lawyer. For these in particular many volumes are needed...
Let's close with this Mr. Diamantis... Which of all your trials defined you?
I participated in almost all the big trials in Larissa, but also in other parts of the country. But I will settle for just one that contributed a lot to my rapid rise. It is a case of intentional homicide with the defendant, a young farmer from Sykourio, who had immigrated to Argentina. He returned with a mental illness, but instead of being treated, he engaged in agricultural work. Driving a tractor, he ran into a group of two friends who were sitting with their families carelessly in the central square of the town. The two men were fatally wounded.
He was referred then, in 1965, to the pure Criminal Court of Volos. It was the first major criminal case assigned to me and I asked the family of the accused to add the old comrade Sokratis Naos.
From the psychiatric expert opinion and from the opinions of prominent psychiatrists of our city, Thomas Lachana and Alekou Dina, who also testified as witnesses in court, it emerged that he suffered from a severe form of schizophrenia and the act should not be attributed to him. The prosecutor of the seat was Liappis, who later became well known during the dictatorship as the Commissioner of the Extraordinary Military Court, and he demanded the sentencing of Panagoulis "to death". He suggested his guilt because, as he said, he was faking and used the tractor to avenge the death of Grigorios Lambrakis who had been murdered with a tricycle in Thessaloniki, but also of his own father who had been killed as a rebel.
The defendant remained speechless from beginning to end. His mind had stayed in the Argentine countryside, as I said in my speech. Just before the end of the trial, when the President asked him a question, he was suddenly shaken, seized the heavy bronze-bound Gospel, and hurled it towards the Court. Fortunately, the President (Georganas) and the Judge from the left (Hatzakis) escaped with a quick tilt of the head. The traces remained on the wall for a long time...
Then I took the opportunity and asked the Prosecutor to charge him with contempt of Court, since, as he said, the defendant was pretending to be a psychopath. He refused the challenge but pleaded guilty "in a calm state". The jury, however, accepted a reduced charge and the Court ordered the incarceration of the accused in the Public Psychiatric Hospital.
The late Eupatridis colleague Sokratis Naos, after my own long hours of prayer, was content to emphasize that I had shouldered the entire burden of the case. The favorable impact of the trial was very great…
…
During our long discussions, Yannis Diamantis told me about what worries him... "Humanity, Evi, is going through a period in which the old is sick but the new has not yet appeared. The sources of evil, in short, are climate change, unprecedented inequality, with 1% of population commanding 50% of global wealth, and the mega-problem of immigration. However, my worldview, with a deep belief in Democracy and Social Justice, forces me to be optimistic about change”… I save this for the end, his optimism about change, about the new that has not yet been seen… considering how much Yannis Diamantis lived "new" in his life... almost a century of history...
The interview was published on April 18, 2021 at onlarissa.gr