About Dimitrios V. Smirnich | Author, Former Soldier & Dive Instructor

Diving · @divingdimitri_

The short version

Lived first. Written later.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich is an independent author, former soldier and dive instructor. His books come from places he has lived, walked and worked — the Camino de Santiago, Australian mine sites, remote islands, deserts, mountains and temples.

Military

He served in the Air Force and the Army, where he trained as a marksman.

Books & places

His writing follows real roads: the Camino de Santiago, Australia, island life, mining camps and monastery silence.

Study & languages

He studied psychology at FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. He speaks four languages: German, English, Greek and Russian.

Endurance

Endurance events across marathon and ultramarathon distances.

Military

Before the road.

Before the books, mine sites and island life, Dimitrios V. Smirnich served in the German armed forces. The rifle eventually gave way to a pen, and the years that followed became the material for his books.

Lived places

Not a backdrop.

The places behind the work, the diving and the books.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich diving with an underwater camera near a sea turtle — **Diving**Underwater camera work.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich underwater with other scuba divers — **Below the surface**Life underwater.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich in mining workwear at an Australian mine site — **Australia**Mine sites and distance.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich travelling with a backpack in hot weather — **The road**Heat, distance and movement.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich in scuba equipment at the water's edge — **Diving**At the water's edge.

Dimitrios V. Smirnich outdoors while travelling — **Travel**Between places.

The question

What makes a life meaningful?

Somewhere between military training, the pain of an ultramarathon, the heat of the outback and the stillness of monastery life, he became obsessed with that question.