Iakovos Kambanellis (Greek: Ιάκωβος Καμπανέλλης; 2 December 1921 – 29 March 2011) was a Greek poet, playwright, screenwriter,

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

, and novelist.

Biography

Born 2 December 1921 in Hora on the island of

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

, the sixth of nine children of Stefanos Kampanellis, an experienced pharmacist, and Aikaterini Laskari. His father came from Chios, while his mother came from an old noble family in Istanbul. Iakovos Kambanellis appeared as one of the most prominent Greek playwrights of the 20th century and he is considered to be the father of modern Greek theater. As a survivor of the

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...

, he wrote the lyrics of the "

Mauthausen Trilogy The "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen" and the "Mauthausen Cantata", is a cycle of four arias with lyrics based on poems written by Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis, a Mauthausen concentration camp survivor, and music wr ...

" with music by

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...

. He has also written a memoir known as ''Mauthausen'' describing his experiences from the concentration camp. He wrote the scripts of at least 12 films and he directed three of them. In addition, he is well known as a lyricist, having written the lyrics for more than 100 songs. He was a member of the board of the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece (MIET – ''Morfotiko Idryma Ethnikis Trapezis''), along with some of the most prominent Greek artists. From 1981-87, he was Director of the Radio section of the Greek National Broadcasting Company (E.R.T.). In 2000 he was elected member of the Academy of Athens. The same year he was awarded the medal of the Order of Phoenix by the President of the Greek Republic.

Death

Kambanellis was rushed to the hospital on 4 February 2011 due to complications of his long-term kidney failure. At the age of 89, he died on 29 March 2011 from kidney failure, nine days after his wife's death.

Theatre

Cinema

He wrote several scripts for films including: *'' Stella'' directed by Michael Cacoyiannis *'' O Drakos (The Ogre of Athens)'' directed by Nikos Koundouros *''Arpagi tis Persefonis'' (''The Siege of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld aft ...

'') directed by Grigoris Grigoriou *''To kanoni kai t'aïdoni'' (''The Cannon and the Nightingale'') directed by himself and Giorgos Kampanellis Many of his plays are translated in several languages and produced in countries all over the world: in Austria,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, Iran, England, Germany, Hungary,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, U.S.A., Russia, China, Norway and Sweden. His plays translated in Iran by Reza Shirmarz, famous playwright, translator, author and researcher, have been republished several times in a short time. He worked as a journalist in newspapers ''Eleftheria'' (1963–65), ''Anendotos'' (1965–66) and '' Nea'' (1975-1980). He has been a member of the Greek Theatre Writers' Company.

References

External links

World Greek Reporter: Plays of Iakovos Kambanellis Reach Iran

Official website for the life and work of Iakovos Kambanellis
*
Iakovos Kambanellis' play called ''Ibsenland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kambanellis Iakovos 1921 births People from Naxos Greek artists Greek screenwriters Greek film directors Deaths from kidney failure Greek lyricists Theatre in Greece Mauthausen concentration camp survivors 2011 deaths Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Grand Commanders of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) 20th-century Greek novelists 20th-century Greek dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Greek poets