Manos Loïzos ( el, Μάνος Λοΐζος; 1937–1982) was one of the most important Greek

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

composers of the 20th century.

Biography

He was born on 22 October 1937 to Greek Cypriot immigrants in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

, Egypt. His parents came from the small village of

Agioi Vavatsinias Agioi Vavatsinias ( el, Αγίοι Βαβατσινιάς) is a village in the Larnaca District of Cyprus, 3 km north of Ora. Its population in 2011 was 131. Agioi Vavatsinias is the ancestral village of Manos Loïzos, who is considered ...

, in the district of Larnaca,

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

. Loizos moved to

Athens 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 ...

at the age of 17 intending to study pharmacology but soon gave up his studies in order to concentrate on his musical career. He was a

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...

musician, with no formal musical arts training. His first recordings were made in 1963 but he started gaining a larger audience after 1967. By 1975 Loizos had become one of the most popular artists in Greek music. He died on 17 September 1982 in a hospital in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

after suffering several strokes. He was well known for his leftist political ideology and was an outspoken critic of the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

. He was also an active member of the Greek Communist Party. The year 2007 was declared "Manos Loizos Year" in Greece.

Discography

He composed many well-known Greek

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

s and has co-operated with various important composers, singers and

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 ...

s like

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'' ...

Haris Alexiou Haris Alexiou ( el, Χάρις Αλεξίου, ; born 27 December 1950 in Thebes, Greece as Hariklia Roupaka, el, Χαρίκλεια Ρουπάκα, ) is a Greek singer. She is considered one of the most popular singers in Greece and has been co ...

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 ...

Vasilis Papakonstantinou Vasilis Papakonstantinou (Βασίλης Παπακωνσταντίνου) (born 21 June 1950) is a Greek singer known mostly for his work in Greek rock. Most of his songs have gained considerable popularity, mainly in Greece and Cyprus. Early ...

, Christos Leontis, Fondas Ladis, Yannis Negrepontis,

Manolis Rasoulis Emmanouil (Manolis) Rasoulis ( el, Μανώλης Ρασούλης, 28 September 19455 March 2011), best known as the lyricist of famous songs, was a Greek music composer, singer, writer, and journalist. Rasoulis was born in 1945 in Heraklion, ...

Giannis Kalatzis Giannis Kalatzis ( el, Γιάννης Καλατζής, 29 April 1943 – 13 July 2017) was a Greek singer who was especially popular in Greece in the late 1960s and the first half of the 1970s. Giannis Kalatzis was born in Thessaloniki in 1943. ...

Nâzım Hikmet Mehmed Nâzım Ran (15 January 1902 – 3 June 1963), Note: 403 Forbidden error received 10 October 2022. commonly known as Nâzım Hikmet (), was a Turkish-Polish poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, director, and memoirist. He was ...

and many others. His best known co-operation was with his very personal friend, lyricist

Lefteris Papadopoulos Lefteris (Eleftherios) Papadopoulos ( el, Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος) is a Greek lyricist, writer and journalist. Lefteris Papadopoulos was born in Athens, Greece on 14 November 1935. He is the son of Greek refugees, with a fath ...

who wrote the lyrics of many of Loizos' most successful hits. Some of Loizos' most famous songs are : *"Ola se thymizoun (Everything Reminds Me of You)" Lyrics: Manolis Rassoulis *"

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

" Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos *"S' Akoloutho (I follow you)" Lyrics: himself *"To Akordeon (The Accordion)" Lyrics: Yannis Negrepontis *"O Dromos (The Street)" Lyrics: Kostoula Mitropoulos *"Che" (dedicated to Che Guevara) Lyrics: himself *"Ah Helidoni mu (Ah, my swallow)" Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos *"De Tha Ksanagapiso (I Shall not Love Again)" Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos *"Paporaki tou Burnova (Paporaki of Burnova)" Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos *"O Koutalianos" Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos *"Evdokia" (Instrumental

Zeibekiko Zeibekiko ( el, Ζεϊμπέκικο, ) is a Greek folk dance. Origin and history It takes its name from the Zeybeks, an irregular militia living in the Aegean Region of the Ottoman Empire from late 17th to early 20th centuries. It was fir ...

) *"Kalimera Ilie (Goodmorning Sun)" Lyrics: Manos Loizos. During the 1981-1989 period the song was used as trademark by the political movement PASOK In 1985, a big concert dedicated to his memory took place in the

Athens Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium of Athens " Spyros Louis" ( el, Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο Αθηνών "Σπύρος Λούης", ''Olympiakó Stádio Athinon "Spyros Louis"'') is a sports stadium in Athens, Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic ...

, attended by more than 50,000 people with singers

Dimitra Galani Dimitra Galani ( el, Δήμητρα Γαλανή) is a Greek singer and songwriter. Galani was born 1952 in Athens and began her musical career at the age of 16 providing vocals on several tracks of Dimos Moutsis and Nikos Gatsos on the album "A ...

and

performing. Manos Loizos' songs and music remain popular until today among all ages of the Greek society.

Studio albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loizos, Manos 1937 births 1982 deaths Greek songwriters Greek people of Cypriot descent People from Alexandria Greek communists Egyptian people of Greek descent Egyptian emigrants to Greece