Greek veteran composer and political activist Mikis Theodorakis, who was instrumental in raising global awareness of Greece's plight during the 1967-1974 military dictatorship, has died at the age of 96.
Born on the island of Chios, on 29 July 1925, he studied music in Athens and later Paris.
His work ranges from rousing songs based on major Greek poetic works, many of which remain left-wing anthems for decades, to symphonies and film scores.
He composed perhaps the most recognizable Greek music internationally, the syrtaki from the film "Zorba the Greek" (1964), while his songs were performed by famous artists, such as The Beatles, Shirley Bassey and Edith Piaf. He composed the scores in films such as "Z" (1969), which won the BAFTA Prize for original music, "Phaedra" (1962), which included songs with lyrics by Nikos Gatsos, and "Serpiko" (1973), for which he was nominated for a Grammy in 1975 (he claimed the same award for his music "Zorba the Greek" in 1966).
Theodorakis also composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy" – also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", and the "Mauthausen Cantata" – a cycle of four arias with lyrics based on poems written by Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis, a Mauthausen concentration camp survivor.
A very outspoken political activist, he joined a reserve unit of ELAS, the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance against the Nazi occupation, and led a troop in the fight against the British and the Greek right in the "Dekemvriana". During the Greek Civil War he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria and then deported to the island of Makronisos, where he was tortured.
Theodorakis had long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece of which he was an MP from 1981 to 1990. However, in 1989 he ran as an independent candidate with the right-wing New Democracy and became a minister in 1990 under Constantine Mitsotakis (father of the current Greek prime minister), only to resign in March 1992.
In later years, he was repeatedly hospitalized due to health problems and in 2019 underwent heart surgery to place a pacemaker.
Source: ekathimerini.com
Theme from "Zorba The Greek" (1964)
Music by Mikis Theodorakis
Directed by Michael Cacoyannis
Theme from "Les amants de Teruel" (1962)
Interpreted by Edith Piaf
Music by Mikis Theodorakis
Directed by Jacques Plante
"The Honeymoon Song"
Interpreted by Beatles
Music by Mikis Theodorakis
Live at the BBC for "Pop Go The Beatles", August 6, 1963
"The Train Leaves At Eight" (1971)
Interpreted by The Walkabouts (2000)
Music by Mikis Theodorakis
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