Liana Kanelli

Garyfallia "Liana" Kanelli (; born 20 March 1954) is a Greek journalist and Member of the Greek Parliament for the Communist Party of Greece since 2000.

Education She graduated with a law degree from the University of Athens Law School.

Kanelli also learned to speak several foreign languages. Apart from Greek, Kanelli is also fluent in three foreign languages: English, French and Italian.

Career Journalism and television In 1973, starting her career in journalism, she was acclaimed by Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis as the "kid of New Democracy", a designation she herself denied a while later. In the next decades Kanelli worked as a daily columnist, a reporter at home and abroad, a news anchor and television presenter, host and interviewer. She also worked as a radio host and presenter.

Liana In 1992 she was given her own self-titled talk show Liana (also called Liana K. in Greek language rebroadcasts outside of Greece). The show was widely popular and gained her much notoriety in Greece and surrounding Greek-speaking regions (such as North Macedonia and southern Albania) , though it lasted only one year, due largely to some of the controversial views she presented.

After the show was canceled, it remained quite popular through the practice of underground tape trading in Eastern Europe. The trading of pirated videos and music had become quite commonplace throughout the 1980s and 1990s as so many western films were outlawed in Eastern Bloc nations (as seen in the documentary Chuck Norris vs. Communism).

Politics In 1999, Kanelli announced from the podium of a rally protesting the Kosovo War and the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia that she would run as a candidate for the Communist Party of Greece for the European Parliament. In the 2000 national election, she was elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens' first electoral district, a seat she has successfully held by being re-elected in every election since (2004, 2007 and 2009).

On-air assault (2012) In June 2012, during a live talk show, Kanelli was struck three times in the shoulders and the face by Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris, a former army Special forces officer with a checkered criminal past. Kanelli pushed him away after Kasidiaris threw water across the news desk at another guest, and a warrant was issued for Kasidiaris' arrest immediately following the on air incident. The show stopped broadcasting after the melee, at which time, according to Kanelli, Kasidiaris was forced into a room and the door was closed and locked, but that before police could arrive he broke the door down and fled the scene. According to Greek law, such a warrant must be served by police within 24 hours. Following the incident, which gained international attention, Golden Dawn claimed Kanelli assaulted Kasidiaris first by throwing a packet of documents into his face.

Al Jazeera interview (2013) Kanelli has been an outspoken opponent of Greece's entry into the European Union and adoption of the Euro as a currency. In an October 2013 interview with Al Jazeera's Empire program in Athens she caused a stir by stating that Brussels and Berlin had utilized "imposing and blackmailing politics" to mislead Greece into accepting the currency.

Filmography

Television Year Title Role(s) Notes 1972-1973 Today Herself (reporter) Daytime news show on YENED 1975-1981 ERT Central News Herself (anchor) National television evening news 1976-1977 The Portrait of Thursday with Freddie Germanos Herself (co-host) Talk show 1978 Saturday night, Sunday morning with Freddie Germanos Herself (co-host) Talk show 1982 The survivors Herself 1 episode 1986-1989 Are you talking in Greek? with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Talk show on ERT 1989-1991 MEGA Central News Herself (anchor) Monday to Friday evening news on MEGA 1989-1992 Hands up with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Talk show on MEGA 1989 The MEGA Christmas Show Herself (host) MEGA TV special 1992 Weekend ERT Herself (host) Weekend talk show on ERT Black and White in Greece Herself (host) Talk show on ERT Because of an oath with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Talk show on ERT 1993 ANT1 Central News Herself (anchor) Saturday to Sunday evening news on ANT1 Liana with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Daytime talk show 1994-1995 Skai Central News Herself (anchor) Monday to Friday evening news on Skai TV Tea with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Talk show on Skai TV 1995 SKAI right now Herself (host) Late night talk show on Skai TV Live Stories with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Talk show on ERT 1995-1996 ERT Central News Herself (anchor) National television evening news 1996-1998 Don't upset my day! with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Daytime talk show on MEGA 1998 Two Strangers Herself 1 episode 1998-1999 Late night X-press with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Late night talk show on MEGA 1999 The seven deadly sins with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Late night talk show on Seven X 1999-2000 The good news are burnt beautifully! with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Daytime talk show on Alter 5 2000-2001 EXTRA Central News Herself (anchor) Monday to Friday evening news on Extra Channel 2001 The red with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Talk show on 902 TV 2001-2002 TEMPO Central News Herself (anchor) Monday to Friday evening news on Tempo TV 2002 On a shaved edge with Liana Kanelli Herself (host) Late night talk show on Alpha TV 2007 In the Nick of Time Herself 1 episode

Personal life Kanelli is a Christian.

Humanitarian efforts and awards A member of EEDYE (Greek Committee for International Peace and Detente), Kanelli has been awarded by various associations and organizations as a journalist and politician for her social and anti-racist efforts.

She also visited Armenia in 2016 to promote peace in the region with Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, blaming "capitalist rivalries" for previous bloodshed there.