Vassilis Lyritzis, one of the most famous and recognizable figures in Greek journalism, died on Tuesday morning at the early age of 62.
The sad news of his death was announced by Dimitris Economou, a friend and co-presenter of Lyritzis’ on radio and television shows for decades.
During the popular early morning ”Simera” TV show on SKAI, Economou announced that his friend and ”brother” had died after a month-long stay in the hospital.
Economou explained that Lyritzis had had health issues during the last couple of months, without giving any details about his condition. According to media reports, however, Lyritzis was fighting cancer.
During the last weeks, the journalist’s had experienced a deterioration in his health, and unfortunately, he died on Tuesday morning.
Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras expressed his sadness at the journalist’s death, noting Lyritzis’ sterling character and his selflessness.
Ο Βασίλης Λυριτζής υπηρέτησε το δημοσιογραφικό λειτούργημα με αρχές & ευσυνειδησία.Για πολλά χρόνια η φωνή του ήταν η πρωινή μας συντροφιά. Όσοι είχαν τη τύχη να τον γνωρίσουν ξεχώρισαν το ήθος & την ανιδιοτέλεια που τον διέκριναν.Συλλυπητήρια στην οικογένεια & τους οικείους του.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) April 2, 2019
The leader of the Greek opposition, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, echoed Tsiptras’s sentiments, and praised the quality of Lyritzis’ journalistic work throughout his career.
Ο Βασίλης Λυριτζής ήταν ένας πολύ αξιοπρεπής και ποιοτικός δημοσιογράφος με τον οποίο έχω κάνει πολλές ουσιαστικές συζητήσεις. Λυπήθηκα πολύ για τον πρόωρο θάνατό του. Θερμά συλλυπητήρια στους οικείους του.
— Kyriakos Mitsotakis (@kmitsotakis) April 2, 2019
Lyritzis was born on Crete in 1957. After a successful career in newspapers and radio, he created the famous TV show ”Proti Grammi” (Front Line) in Greece’s public broadcaster ERT, together with Dimitris Economou.
From 2002 until 2010 they both presented this early morning show, before moving to SKAI to continue the same show until 2017, when Lyritzis decided to step away from TV.
He continued his career on the “Real FM“ radio station.
Lyritzis was married to Eleni Antoniadi and they had two children together.
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