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Grigoris Grigoriou was a Greek director and the son of prominent lawyer Michalis Grigoriou. He studied law and political science at the University of Athens, learned foreign languages, and took theater courses at the University Club, but ultimately became a self-taught director. During the German Occupation, he participated in the Battle of Crete, was captured by the Germans, escaped, and subsequently joined and fought with the EAM (National Liberation Front). From 1942 to 1949, he worked in the Legal Department of AETE, the predecessor of today’s Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation. He began directing films in 1949 and theater in 1951. In 1948, he wrote and directed his first film, The Red Cliff. His 1951 film Bitter Bread is regarded as a milestone in Greek cinema, being the first Greek neorealist film, blending Italian neorealism with Greek realities and critiquing the authorities. He ceased filmmaking in 1971, having directed thirty feature films. Grigoriou also directed numerous plays for the state radio’s radio theater and co-founded the Lykourgos Stavrakos Film School in 1949. Starting in 1957, he served as a professor at the Drama School. He was actively involved in television, directing Immortal Love Stories, Kapodistrias, and a series of plays on ERT. His TV adaptation of the literary work Loxandra was highly successful, as was the show Na i Efkairia, which helped launch new artists. Between 1984 and 1990, he hosted the weekly program In the Area of Greek Cinema. He served as president of the Society of Greek Directors and received numerous directing awards, including an honor from the Ministry of Culture. Fluent in French, he resided permanently in Ilioupoli, Athens. With his first wife, Maria Papaleonardou, he had a son, composer Michalis Grigoriou. He later married actress Inta Hristinaki, with whom he had no children, and finally married Eleni Tsimaratou in 1960, with whom he had two children: musician Lefteris Grigoriou and diving instructor-director Stelios Grigoriou.
