Biography

Stavros Kelesidis was an key member of Finos Film and one of the most important make-up artists of that time. A refugee from Russia, he arrived in Greece in 1938 from Soviet Union doing any work to survive. In 1939, he met Filopoimin Finos, when he was informed about the new studios that had recently been established in Kalamaki. His hands were rosy from the hard work he did and spoke little Greek. At that time, Finos and his team were shooting their first film, The Song of Separation (1940), and the only one directed by Finos - and they needed people of all specialties. Finos liked him from the first moment and tried, in vain, with his questions, to see where he can be useful. When he found out that he had no idea about photography or electrics, at some point he asked him if he knew about makeup. He replied that this was exactly what he had studied in Russia and Finos invited him to do a rehearsal the next day. With models Jella Finou and Alekos Livaditis, Kelesidis passed the exams and was hired immediately. Stavros Kelesidis settled in the Finos Film Studios on Stournara Street as the company's permanent make-up artist. During his career, he participated as a make-up artist dozens of films, while he was also Aliki Vougiouklaki's favorite make-up artist. In 1974, on the occasion of the film The Trial of the Judges (1974), he was honored at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, for his contribution in Greek Cinema.

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