Theodorakis, Mikis

Born July 29, 1925 on the Greek island of Chios . His father was a native of the island of Crete , his mother was born in Asia Minor . Since childhood, the boy showed interest and love for music, he began to compose his first songs, still not knowing how to play musical instruments. At the age of 17 he organized a choir in the Peloponnese city Tripolis .

During World War II, Theodorakis participated in the Resistance Movement. He was captured by the Nazis and tortured.

During the civil war in Greece ( 1946 - 1949 ), the composer was sent into exile to the island of Ikaria , and then placed in a concentration camp on the island of Makronissos , where he was also tortured and beaten.

In 1950 he graduated from the Athens Conservatory in composition class by Philoktis Ikonidis. Then from 1954 to 1959, at the Paris Conservatory, he studied music analysis from Olivier Messiaen and conducting from Eugene Vigo. Living in France, composed a lot. This period includes chamber preludes and sonatinas, symphonic works and three ballets.

In 1959, the composer returned to Greece. He organized the orchestra in Athens and the Musical Society in Piraeus. He was also engaged in political activities, in particular, he was a member of parliament from the United Left Democratic Party ( 1964 - 1967 ). In April 1967, shortly after the coup, organized by the "black colonels" , Theodorakis went underground. Colonels banned his music, and soon the composer went to prison, where he spent five months. In 1968 he was released under the pressure of world public opinion and sent into exile, but already in 1969 he was placed in the Oropos concentration camp (near Athens). World-famous cultural figures, in particular, D. Shostakovich , L. Bernstein , A. Miller , G. Belafonte, again stood up for him. This had an effect, and in April 1970 the composer was released. Since 1970, he lived and worked in France. In exile, he continued to fight, arranging concerts in favor of the fighters against the junta. After the junta fell in July 1974, Theodorakis returned to Greece again.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he was elected to the parliament several times and was minister in the government of K. Mitsotakis . Currently retired. His niece Maro Theodoraki is also a famous Greek composer ^[1] . All his life, Mikis fought for human values, for democracy in Greece. He created the Movement of Independent Citizens called Iskra.

Peru Mikisa Theodorakis owns numerous symphonies, chamber works, as well as popular folk-style songs and dances (cycles “Lyrics”, “Dionysus”, “Fedra”, “More”, etc.). At different periods, he also created the opera "Angel Quarter"; the ballets "Orpheus and Eurydice", "Antigone", "Medea", "Lysistrata", "Song of the Dead Brother", "Lovers from Teruel", music for dramatic performances (for the tragedy "Oedipus" Sophocles , etc.) and films ( “The Greek Zorba” by M. Kakoyannis, 1964 ); vocal compositions.

The Sirtaki dance, as well as the music for it, written by the composer, is sometimes called the “Dance of Zorba”. After the release of the film "Greek Zorba" on the screen, sirtaki became the most popular Greek dance in the world and one of the symbols of Greece.

• Order of Friendship ( March 10, 2007 , Russia ) - for the great contribution to the strengthening and development of Russian-Greek cultural ties ^[2] ;
• International Lenin Prize "For the strengthening of peace among nations" (1983);
• Lenin Komsomol Prize (1967) - for songs of courage and freedom, calling young people to fight against oppression, fascism, for peace and a better future.

• Mikis Theodorakis: Journals of Resistance. Translated from the French by Graham Webb, Hart-Davis MacGibbon, London, 1973.
• Mikis Theodorakis: Music and Theater, Translated by George Giannaris, Athens, 1983.
• George Giannaris. Mikis Theodorakis. Music and Social Change, Foreword by Mikis Theodorakis. G. Allen, London, 1972.
• Gail Holst. Myth & Politics in Modern Greek Music, Adolf M. Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1980.

• Official Web Site
• Edition romanos
• Orchestra Mikis Theodorakis
• Lilian voudouri library
• Ha'aretz August 2004 Interview
• [one]
• Theodorakis M. Money and their deification (inaccessible link) . / Article, trans. from Greek.
• Detailed biography of Mikis Theodorakis in Russian, translation of songs
• Y. Tsenin. Raise the sun over Greece! .. // Soviet Culture. - 1970. - 13 August. - p . 4 .