Mikis Theodorakis remembered on his 99th birthday

Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis was born on 29 July 1925 on the island of Chios to a Cretan father and a mother from Asia Minor. Because his father was a public servant, his childhood was spent in many Greek towns and islands, including Mytilene, Syros, Patras, Ioannina, Argostoli, and Tripoli. At age 17 he presented his first work “Kassiani” and became active in the resistance, joining the EAM and later the Communist Party. He was arrested by the Italian occupiers in 1943, endured imprisonment, and subsequently fought with the ELAS during the 1944 December events in Athens. After World War II he emerged as a leading composer, debuting his first major piece in 1950 at the Orpheus Theatre. In 1953 he married doctor Myrto Altinoglou and pursued further studies in Paris. Theodorakis earned the Coplay award for European composer of the year in 1959 and is renowned for setting poems such as Giannis Ritsos’s “Epitafios” to music, works that have become symbols of Greek cultural freedom. His long career linked classical, folk, and political music, making him a national icon whose legacy is commemorated each year on his birthday.