Yiannis Menesidis was born in Drama in 1947. Studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and specialized in respiratory medicine and phthisiology. He was director of the Dept. of Respiratory Medicine at the General Hospital in Xanthi. He began painting in 1975 at the urging of the writer and painter Nikos Gavriil Pentzikis. Has exhibited in solo exhibitions in Athens, Thessaloniki, Xanthi, Drama and Komotini. He has collaborated with the ‘Diagonios’ Gallery (1975-1995) in Thessaloniki. Ten art editions of his work have been published.
He is a member of SKETBE (Visual Arts Association of Northern Greece) and EEIK (Hellenic Society of Doctor-Artists). The artist’s works are represented in the collections of the Art Gallery of the Society for Macedonian Studies, the Thessaloniki Municipal Gallery, the Panayotis and Effie Michelis Foundation, the DEKPOTA in Drama, the Xanthi Municipal Art Gallery, the Foundation of Thracian Art and Tradition, Xanthi, the Progressive Union of Xanthi (FEX) and in private collections. He is a collector of shells and rocks.