Mikis Theodorakis

Greek composer whose music became the anthem against military junta, merging symphonic traditions with revolutionary politics.

Mikis Theodorakis (1925–2021) transformed 20th-century Greek music while resisting dictatorships. His «Mauthausen Trilogy», composed after surviving Nazi torture camps, redefined Holocaust remembrance through Byzantine-choral fusion. In 1964, his score for «Zorba the Greek» globalized rebetiko folk rhythms.

During Greece's 1967–74 junta, Theodorakis founded PAM (Patriotic Anti-Dictatorship Front). His banned song cycle «Romiosini» became resistance anthems, smuggled on vinyl. Captured and exiled, he continued composing in Paris using mathematical cryptography to send coded messages to rebels.

Theodorakis later served as a UN ambassador for water conservation. His 1992 Canto General, adapting Neruda's poetry into a 12-movement symphony, united 400 musicians from five continents. Greece declared national mourning at his death—testament to how his art reshaped a nation's soul.