Sculptor Yiannis Parmakelis was born in 1932 in Heraklion, Crete. He studied sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1952 – 1958) under G. Pappas. He continued his studies in Paris at the École des Beaux-arts (1961 1964) under O. Zadkine and R. Couturier.

Following his return to Greece, he worked for a short period at the Athens School of Fine Arts as an assistant in the workshop of G. Pappas, and also taught at the Athens Technological Organisation (1968 – 1971). He has produced works for public spaces, monuments and statues (Rethymnon, Heraklion, Viannos, Archanes, Kavala, Trikala, Kaisariani, etc.) and has created medals in bronze, silver and gold, He has also worked on public space landscaping.

He has presented his work in solo and group exhibitions, both in Greece and abroad, and has taken part in international events, including the Alexandria Biennale in 1965, the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1967, the Venice Biennale in 1970, the Budapest Biennale in 1971, the International Exhibition of Plastic Arts in Bucharest in 1983, the Art Athina in 1996 etc. He was a member of the group “Armos” team; he is a member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece and a full member of the Academy of Athens since 2012.