Maria Dimitriadi ( el, Μαρία Δημητριάδη) (11 April 1950 – 6 January 2009), was a Greek singer. She was one of the most renowned performers of the songs of

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 Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...

and

Thanos Mikroutsikos Athanasios "Thanos" Mikroutsikos ( el, Αθανάσιος (Θάνος) Μικρούτσικος; 13 April 1947 – 28 December 2019) was a Greek composer and politician. He is considered one of the most important composers of the recent Greek mu ...

. Dimitiradi primarily connected with political left-wing songs during the

Junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

and

Metapolitefsi The Metapolitefsi ( el, Μεταπολίτευση, , " regime change") was a period in modern Greek history from the fall of the Ioaniddes military junta of 1973–74 to the transition period shortly after the 1974 legislative elections. The m ...

era in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, but she also experimented with other styles and genres, of a more lyrical tone.

Biography

Maria Dimitriadi was born on 11 April 1950 in the

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

municipality of

Tavros Tavros ( el, Ταύρος, which means "bull"), is a suburb in the southwestern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Moschato-Tavros, of which it is a municipal unit. Geo ...

, where later she became a member of the municipal council. She was the older sister of the acclaimed Greek singer Aphrodite Manou. Her career was connected with some of the greatest Greek composers, such as

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 M ...

, with whom she recorded her debut single, "Ένα πρωινό",

, Kostas Grigoreas, Madra Mandicencio, and later on,

Giannis Markopoulos Yannis Markopoulos ( el, Γιάννης Μαρκόπουλος; born 18 March 1939) is a Greek composer. Biography Early life and education Yannis Markopoulos was born in 1939 in Heraklion, Crete. From one of the old families of the island— ...

and

Manos Hadjidakis Manos may refer to: Films * ''The Hands'' (Spanish: ''Las manos''), a 2006 Argentinean-Italian film * '' Manos: The Hands of Fate'', 1966 horror film Music * Manos (band), German Black metal band * ''Manos'' (album), by The Spinanes Other use ...

. In the early 1970s, during the military dictatorship in Greece, she was in Europe and toured with Theodorakis for four years. She continued to work with him until the early 1990s. In 1974, Dimitriadi returned to Greece and, in the following years, she started working almost exclusively with Mikroutsikos. In these years she became a member of the

Revolutionary Communist Movement of Greece The Revolutionary Communist Movement of Greece or EKKE (Greek: Επαναστατικό Κομμουνιστικό Κίνημα Ελλάδας, ΕΚΚΕ) is a communist political party in Greece. Alliances In 1999, EKKE joined the Radical Left Fr ...

(EKKE) and she was elected counsellor to serve on the Municipal Council of

, a suburb in the south-western part of Athens in Greece. In 1980, she signed for

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

and started her solo career. From 1991 to 1993, Dimitiradi lived and worked in former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and strongly opposed the

embargo Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...

on Yugoslavia. She had a son, Stergios, with Greek television presenter

Andreas Mikroutsikos Andreas Mikroutsikos ( Greek: Ανδρέας Μικρούτσικος; born 1952 in Patras) is a Greek composer, lyricist, singer and TV presenter. Music career His top hits were ''Hameno Nisi'' (Lost Island), ''To Koutsouraki'' (Little Log), ''K ...

. In later years, she had withdrawn from active singing and recording and became a sympathizer of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

(KKE). On 6 January 2009, Maria Dimitriadi died at the age of 58 in the Evangelismos General Hospital in Athens from a rare lung disease.

References

External links

Maria Dimitriadi discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitriadi, Maria 1950 births 2009 deaths Deaths from lung disease 20th-century Greek women singers Greek entehno singers Singers from Athens