Stelios Perpiniadis (; 14 May 1899 – 4 September 1977), better known as Stellakis (Greek: Στελλάκης), was a

Greek folk music Greek traditional music (Greek: παραδοσιακή μουσική, "traditional music"; also δημοτικά τραγούδια, "folk songs") includes a variety of Greek styles played by ethnic Greeks in Greece, Cyprus, Australia, the Uni ...

ian who wrote, sang, and played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

in the ''

rebetiko Rebetiko ( el, ρεμπέτικο, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used today to designate originally disparate kinds of urban Greek music which have come to be grouped together since the s ...

'' style. He was the father of Greek folk musician, Vangelis Perpiniadis. Perpiniadis was born in

Tinos Tinos ( el, Τήνος ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2011 census population of 8,636 inhabitants. Tinos ...

, the youngest of eleven children, of whom only three survived. As a child his family moved to

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 ...

in 1900 and then

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

in 1906. He served in the Greek army in 1919, which had landed in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

at the time. He and his family left for Greece as part of the

Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

in 1922. In 1923 he moved to

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

, where he came into contact with ''rebetiko'' musicians from

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. At the encouragement of musician Manolis Margaronis, he began performing in 1925. He worked together with other well-known rebetiko musicians such as

Vassilis Tsitsanis Vassilis Tsitsanis ( el, Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης 18 January 1915 – 18 January 1984) was a Greek songwriter and bouzouki player. He became one of the leading Greek composers of his time and is widely regarded as one of the founders of ...

, and recorded duets with well-known singers such as Rosa Eskenazi,

Marika Ninou Marika Ninou ( el, Μαρίκα Νίνου) (1922 – 23 February 1957), was an Armenian-Greek rebetiko singer, born Evangelia Atamian ( el, Ευαγγελία Αταμιάν). Biography She was born in 1922 on the ship "Evangelistria" that b ...

Ioanna Georgakopoulou Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, ...

, and Dimitris Perdikopoulos. He died in

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 ...

References

1899 births 1977 deaths People from Tinos Greek rebetiko singers 20th-century Greek male singers Greek guitarists 20th-century guitarists {{Greece-singer-stub