The President and the Board

The Circle is governed by a board of seven members (volunteers) elected biennially by the NS General Assembly. 

Vassiliki Nika, President

Vassiliki Nika holds a B.A. in pedagogy from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an M.A. in translation and interpretation, and a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Athens.  She works as an educator in the primary school level.  She has translated numerous books, mainly from Italian to Greek.  Her Greek translation of Roberto Piumini’s Mathew and his Grandfather entered the 2006 IBBY Honour List.  In 2007, she received an award for her translation of Francesco D'Adamo’s  Iqbal.  She is the author of educational books for children and editor of two literary book series for primary school children.   She became a member of the Greek IBBY in 2003.  In 2008 she was elected Vice President of the Board.

She can be contacted by e-mail at ibbypr@otenet.gr. 

Eva Kaliskami, Secretary , IBBY Liaison Officer

Eva Kaliskami studied English and American literature at the American College of Greece (Deree), and the English Department of the University of Athens.  Literary criticism and analysis was her field of specialization.  With a graduate degree in applied linguistics from the University of Edinburgh, she now works as a teacher of English at a Greek private school, and as a translator. 

 Among her translations, is the IBBY anthology Stories from all over the world.  She represented the Greek IBBY at the 2006 international conference in Macau, China, the 2010 conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and the Bologna Fair of 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011. 

A member of the Greek IBBY since 2006, Eva Kaliskami was elected voting member of the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Award Committee.  She is currently responsible for liaising with the IBBY headquarters. 

Her personal website is: www.ekaliskami.net 

Contact:  lno@greekibby.gr & kyklos@greekibby.gr

Katerina Dermata, Treasurer

Iro Papamoschou, Member

Born and raised in the island of Samos, Iro Papamoschou came to Athens to work for a newspaper and later for the National Bank of Greece.  She holds a diploma in English.  An author of books for children and young adults, she has been honoured with numerous literary awards.  A member of the Greek IBBY since 1989, she has repeatedly volunteered her services to the association.  Since 2009, she has been a member of the Board of Directors.  

Patty Papadimou - Member

Maria Kourkoumeli, Member

Ever since she was a little girl, Maria Kourkoumeli wanted to become a teacher, or to work with books at a library, or a bookstore.  She was able to see her dreams come true and she is now professionally active with the first two.  With the support of the National Book Center, she had a leading role in establishing reading groups in the primary school level.   She participated in the research project “Studying, Teaching, and Promoting Greek Literature for Children,” conducted by the University of Athens.  She collaborated with the Pedagogical Institute in developing a literary anthology for third and fourth graders.  Her papers and articles focus on the role of children’s literature in the Greek classroom, and the development of book-loving attitudes at schools.  Thanks to IBBY, she is now able to promote children’s literature by combining constructively her love for children and her love of books. 

Maria Kourkoumeli can be contacted at:  ibbygg@otenet.gr