Mikis Theodorakis
2 September 2021 (aged 96)
Galatas Cemetery, Chania, Crete
- Composer
- political activist
New Democracy (1989–1993)
2
1943–2021
- Paredon
- Folkways
He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). He was a three-time BAFTA nominee, winning for Z.[7] For the score in Serpico , he earned Grammy nominations.[8] Furthermore, for the score to Zorba the Greek, with its 'Zorba's Dance', he was Golden Globe nominated.[9]
He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust" and possibly his best work.[10] Up until his death, he was viewed as Greece's best-known living composer.[3][5][11] He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.[12]
Politically, he was associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Despite this however, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy party in 1989, in order for the country to emerge from the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou.[13] He helped establish a large coalition between conservatives, socialists and leftists. In 1990 he was elected to the parliament (as in 1964 and 1981), became a government minister under Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and fought against drugs and terrorism and for culture, and education. He continued to speak out in favour of leftist causes, Greek–Turkish–Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq.[14][15] He was a key voice against the 1967–1974 Greek junta, which imprisoned him and banned his songs.[16]
Early life[edit]
Theodorakis was born on the Greek island of Chios and spent his childhood years in provincial Greek cities including Mytilene,[17] Cephallonia,[17] Patras,[18][19] Pyrgos,[20][21] and Tripoli.[21][22] His father, a lawyer and a civil servant, was from the small village of Galatas on Crete[23] and his mother, Aspasia Poulakis, was from an ethnically Greek family in Çeşme, in what is now Turkey.[11][24][25][26][27] He was raised with Greek folk music and was influenced by Byzantine liturgy; as a child he had already talked about becoming a composer.[28][29]
His fascination with music began in early childhood; he taught himself to write his first songs without access to musical instruments. He took his first music lessons in Patras[18] and Pyrgos,[20] where he was a childhood friend of George Pavlopoulos,[30] and in Tripoli, Peloponnese,[22] he gave his first concert at the age of seventeen. He went to Athens in 1943, and became a member of a Reserve Unit of ELAS. He led a troop in the fight against the British and the Greek right in the Dekemvriana.[31] During the Greek Civil War he was arrested, sent into exile on the island of Icaria[32] and then deported to the island of Makronisos, where he was tortured and twice buried alive.[33]
During the periods when he was not obliged to hide, not exiled or jailed, he studied from 1943 to 1950 at the Athens Conservatoire under Filoktitis Economidis.[34] In 1950, he finished his studies and took his last two exams "with flying colours".[35] He went to Crete, where he became the "head of the Chania Music School" and founded his first orchestra.[36]
Later life and death[edit]
He later lived in retirement, reading, writing, publishing arrangements of his scores, texts about culture and politics. On occasions he took position: in 1999, opposing NATO's Kosovo war and in 2003 against the Iraq War. In 2005, he was awarded the Sorano Friendship and Peace Award, the Russian International St.-Andrew-the-First-Called Prize, the insignia of Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of Luxembourg, and the IMC UNESCO International Music Prize, while already in 2002 he was honoured in Bonn with the Erich Wolfgang Korngold Prize for film music at the International Film Music Biennial in Bonn[70] (cf also: Homepage of the Art and Exhibition Hall Bonn).[71] In 2007, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the distribution of the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent.[72]
A final set of songs titled: Odysseia was composed by utilizing poetry written by Costas Kartelias for lyrics. In 2009 he composed a Rhapsody for Strings (Mezzo-Soprano or Baryton ad lib.). Created on 30 January 2013, Theodorakis achieved the distinction of producing one of the largest works by any composer of any time.[73]
On 26 February 2019, Theodorakis was hospitalized with heart problems. On 8 March, he underwent surgery for a pacemaker.[74][75] He died of cardiopulmonary arrest at his home in Athens on 2 September 2021, at the age of 96.[37][1] The Greek Prime Minister declared three days of national mourning to honour him,[37][76] and his body lay in state in the chapel of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, with thousands of people, including artists, as well as political leaders from all Greek parties paying their last respects. Epitaphs were delivered by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Aikaterini Sakellaropoulou, and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece, Dimitrios Koutsoumbas. Afterwards, according to his will, his body was transferred by boat overnight to be buried in his hometown of Galatas, near Chania, Crete, where his parents and brother were buried. [37][77]
Political views[edit]
Israel and Jews[edit]
Theodorakis opposed Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. He criticised Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou for establishing closer relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was guilty, he said, of "war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza."[78] Theodorakis was a vocal critic of Zionism, and referred to himself as an "anti-Zionist."[79][80][81][82] In 2003, he stated, "Everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists ... American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece as well." He was accused of saying that "this small nation (Israel) is the root of evil".[83] Theodorakis later clarified his comments, stating in a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Greece that what he had said was: "Unfortunately the state of Israel supports the United States and their foreign policy, which is the root of the Evil and, therefore, it is close to the root of the Evil.”[84] He was also accused of having admitted his anti-Semitism during an interview on Greek TV on February 8, 2011. His controversial statement on television had been: “I should clarify that I am anti-Semite. Essentially, I love the Jewish people, I love the Jews, I have lived long with them but as much as I hate anti-Semitism, I hate Zionism even more so”, being "I am anti-Semite" an obvious slip of the tongue for "anti-Zionist".[84] In 2013, he condemned Golden Dawn for Holocaust denial.[85]
Views of the United States[edit]
Theodorakis was a long-time critic of the United States foreign policy. During the invasion of Iraq, he called Americans "detestable, ruthless cowards and murderers of the people of the world". He said he would consider anyone who interacted with "these barbarians", for whatever reason, as his enemy.[86] Theodorakis greatly opposed the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav Wars. He participated in a charity concert protesting the bombing in 1999.[87]
2010–2011: Non-political movement[edit]
On 1 December 2010, Mikis Theodorakis founded "Spitha: People's Independent Movement", a non-political movement which calls people to gather and express their political ideas. The main goal of "Spitha" is to help Greece stay clear of its economic crisis.[88] On 31 May 2011, Theodorakis gave a speech attended by approximately 10,000 people in the center of Athens, criticising the Greek government for the loan debt it has taken from the International Monetary Fund.[89]
Positions on Macedonia[edit]
In 1997 Mikis Theodorakis stated on the Macedonian issue that "The name does not matter so much, as long as the peoples live in peace". Later, in an interview, he stressed "In fact, this country is being pushed towards improving relations with Greece. So why shouldn't it be possible for our relations to prosper at all levels and whatever comes up? The Customs Union, confederation, etc. are just conditions. In any case, I think that the name issue will be overcome when the relations between the two peoples reach such a point that the name will not matter at all".[90]
Theodorakis was one of the main speakers at the Rally for Macedonia in Athens, which took place on 4 February 2018. In his speech, he stated that "Macedonia is one, was, is and will always be Greek."[91][92] The statements garnered support from parties in parliament, while even Golden Dawn MPs welcomed Mikis Theodorakis' shift on the name of Macedonia. Members of SYRIZA and Yiannis Boutaris commented negatively on Theodorakis' statements. Also, the day before the rally, a group of anarchists threw paint at the entrance of his house and then wrote threatening messages, such as: "Your story starts from the mountain and ends in the national swamp of Syntagma Square.[93]
Source:[95]