Lefteris (Eleftherios) Papadopoulos ( el, Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

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 income de ...

, writer and journalist. Lefteris Papadopoulos was born in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

on 14 November 1935. He is the son of Greek refugees, with a father from a village near

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in t ...

in today's

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and a mother from a village near

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. His parents were expelled in 1924 during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. He enrolled at the Law School of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

but stopped during his third year in order to work as a journalist. Since 1959 Papadopoulos has worked in the newspaper

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' ( el, Τα Νέα, italic=yes; Translation: ''The News'') is a daily newspaper published in Athens. It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), which also published the newspaper '' To Vima''. The assets of DOL were acquired in 2017 ...

and has become a popular columnist over time. Papadopoulos became involved with music in 1963. He has written the lyrics for about 1,200 songs and has co-worked with nearly all of the well-known musicians, composers and singers of his generation, namely

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'' ...

Stavros Xarhakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the Man ...

, Manos Loizos, Stavros Koujioumtzis, Mimis Plessas,

Christos Nikolopoulos Christos may refer to: * Jesus of Nazareth * Christ (title), a title for the Jewish Messiah in Christianity * Christos (surname) * Christos (given name) *, a Greek owned, Liberian flagged cargo ship in service 1962-71 See also * Christ (d ...

, Stelios Kazantzidis,

Grigoris Bithikotsis Grigoris Bithikotsis ( Greek Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης, ; December 11, 1922 – April 7, 2005) was a Greek folk singer/songwriter with a career spanning five decades. He is considered one of the most important figures in Greek popula ...

George Dalaras George Dalaras ( Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek musician and singer. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Ag ...

, Marinella,

Viki Mosholiou Vicky Moscholiou ( Greek: Βίκυ Μοσχολιού, ; 23 May 1943 – 16 August 2005), born in Metaxourgeio in Athens, was a Greek singer. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked her the 13th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonograph ...

and others. In 1969, composer Mimis Plessas's work of songs "O Dromos", to which Papadopoulos contributed the lyrics, became the fastest selling Greek album. Of all the creative partnerships that Papadopoulos has had with Greek composers, that of his close friend Manos Loizos is considered a landmark of his career. Papadopoulos contributed lyrics to some Greek songs from 1960 to 1990. He also wrote a few literary books, and one about the lyricist

Eftichia Papagianopoulou Eftichia Papagianopoulou ( el, Ευτυχία Παπαγιαννοπούλου), also spelled as Eftihia Papagianopoulou (1893 – 7 January 1972), was a Greek lyricist. She was born in Aydın near Smyrna (now İzmir) in Asia Minor in 1893. Sh ...

. He has presented various programmes about

Greek Music The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originated in the Byzantine period and Gree ...

on television; the most recent, entitled "Makrines Filies" (Remote Friendships), was broadcast on National Television, ERT. Papadopoulos is married to a director and has a son and a daughter as well as two grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papadopoulos, Lefteris 1935 births Living people Writers from Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Journalists from Athens Greek television presenters Modern Greek poets Greek lyricists 20th-century Greek poets Mass media people from Athens