Always on the Left and always unconventional ("I belong to the non-existent party of poets"), he is the author of a single novel (To kivotio – Mission Box) which is widely considered to be among the classic modern Greek works in the second half of the 20th century.

Alexandrou was born in Leningrad[1] to a Greek father (Vasilis Vasiliadis) and a Russian mother (Polina Antovna Vilgelmson).

Aristotle Vasiliadis (who at that time had yet not adopted the name Aris Alexandrou) and his parents moved to Greece in 1928, initially residing in Thessaloniki and shortly thereafter in Athens.

The fact that he was no longer actively involved in the Party did not stop the British authorities (after the liberation of Greece and their installation there as a de facto ruler) from arresting him and sending to the El Tampa camp, wherein he remained up to April 1945.

Furthermore, even though he did not participate in the ensuing Greek Civil War (1946–1949) he was arrested due to his refusal to disavow his political beliefs.