A Greek

“Among Moscow collectors, I have got a rather unflattering nickname: the eccentric Greek ”who buys useless garbage.” (from the memoirs of George Costakis).

George Costakis was born on July 5 1913 into a Greek family - his father Dionisios was a native of Zante, whereas his mother, Elena Sarris-Papachristodoulou came from an impoverished aristocratic family and had roots from both Samos and Lesbos. George Costakis had two important biographical moments associated with Greece: he kept a Greek citizenship all his life and lived in Athens for the last ten years of his life, until his death in 1990. Thats about where Costakis’ “greekness” ends.

The Russian element is much more important - Costakis spoke and thought in Russian, he was married to a Russian, he raised his four children as Russians, he sincerely loved Russia and treated the West with the characteristic Russian “love and hate” attitude. Finally, Costakis devoted his life to Russian culture, acquiring completely unique collections, that of the Russian avant-garde, Russian icons, Russian folk toys and once more, that of Russian non-conformist artists.