Dionysis Simopoulos was born in Ioannina in 1943. He is an astrophysicist and Director Emeritus of the Eugenides Planetarium of which he was a sitting Director from 1972 to 2014. He studied Political Communication and Astrophysics at Louisiana State University in the USA. In January 1968 he started working at the Louisiana Arts and Science Center, where he also served as Director of the Planetarium for four years. He served as President of the European Association for Astronomy Education (1994-2002), as a member of the Executive council of the International Planetarium Society (1978-2008), as a Secretary General of the European-Mediterranean Planetarium Association (1976–2008) and as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Planetarium Society.
 
Simopoulos has received honors from the International Planetarium Society, the Hellenic Physics Society and the Academy of Athens. In 2006 he was honored with the Palmes Académiques of the French Republic. Many of his studies and articles have been published in Greek and foreign magazines and newspapers. He has authored about forty books on astronomy, more than 500 screenplays for television and more than 250 screenplays – including texts and direction - of the Planetarium shows and events.