« Zorba the Greek » composer, Mikis Theodorakis, dies aged 96

Composer Mikis Theodorakis whose earthy, amusing and dance soundtrack for the three Oscar winning movie “Zorba the Greek” established a sunny, fun and carefree image of Greece for millions of tourists around the world, died today at age 96.

As news of his passing swept through Greece, parliament held a moment of silence.
“Today we lost a part of Greece’s soul. Mikis Theodorakis, Mikis the teacher, the intellectual, the radical, our Mikis has gone,” said Culture Minister Lina Mendoni.

A towering man with a sharp look and a chaotic wavy hair, Mikis, with his revolutionary music and his fearless political voice, has cut through Greece’s checkered history of war, dictatorship and austerity.

His body of work includes over a thousand songs, most of them based on Greek poems; they are ranged from the hit soundtrack of “Zorba the Greek”- an international hit starring Anthony Quinn who dances barefoot on a Cretan beach- to the revolutionary tunes of “Romiosini” (Greekness) a series of rousing songs of identity and resistance.

Mikis’ tunes, rapidly, became the left’s anthems while earning the disapproval of the right. His music had been outlawed in Greece during the military system, and anyone listening to it had to expect harsh consequences. Theodorakis was jailed and tortured several times for his leftist views.

That, however, did not stop the rebellious Greek musician from traveling the world and performing over a thousand concerts, where he spoke against the military dictatorship in his country.

The musician who has always took a stand, announced, in an open letter in 2013, his “complete retreat as a fighting citizen.” After 70 years of political struggle, he said, he felt that his views had not been accepted by the people or the political leadership.

“I’m not a communist or social democrat or anything else. I’m a free man,” he once said in an interview.