Stratos Pagioumtzis ( el, Στράτος Παγιουμτζής 1904 – 16 November 1971) was 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 ...

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 ...

'' singer, also known with the nickname ''Stratos the sluggard (Στράτος ο τεμπέλης)'' or simply ''Stratos''.

Biography

Pagioumtzis was born in 1904 in the

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 ...

town of

Ayvalık Ayvalık () is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of Balıkesir province. The town centre is connected to Cunda Island by a causeway and is surrounded by the archipelago of Ayvalık Islands, which face ...

and he migrated to Greece before the Greco-Turkish war of 1919–1922. He settled in the port city of

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 Saronic ...

and supported himself by working as a fisherman and later as a supplier of provisions to moored ships, but he always had in mind to earn his living from his greatest passion, music. He started to sing professionally in the late 1920s and his first recordings appeared in 1933. In 1934, he got together with other

'' singers

Yiorgos Batis Yiorgos Batis ( el, Γιώργος Μπάτης, also Giorgos Batis) (1885 – 10 March 1967) was one of the first rebetes influential to ''rebetiko'' music. His real name was Yiorgos Tsoros although he was known as Yiorgos Ampatis. He had a g ...

, Anestis Delias and

Markos Vamvakaris Márkos Vamvakáris ( el, Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης; 10 May 1905 – 8 February 1972), was a ''rebetiko'' musician. He is universally referred to by ''rebetiko'' writers and fans simply by his first name, Márkos. The great significance ...

, and founded the rebetiko quartet, ''I Tetras i Xakousti tou Peiraios'' ( el, Η τετράς η ξακουστή του Πειραιώς, literally ''The famed quarted of Piraeus''). In 1937, during the Metaxas dictator regime, he was convicted of drug use and was exiled internally to the Cycladic island of

Sifnos Sifnos ( el, Σίφνος) is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia (pop. 869), is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come f ...

. Pagioumtzis had a beautiful voice which earned him wide recognition. He is considered as one of the greatest singers of the classical rebetiko era. Pagioumtzis recorded over 400 songs with his voice and worked with many well-known composers such as

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

Giannis Papaioannou Giannis Papaioannou ( el, Γιάννης Παπαϊωάννου; January 18, 1913 – August 3, 1972) was a famous Greek musician and composer born in Kios, Ottoman Empire (now Gemlik, Turkey). In English his name is sometimes romanticized as ''Y ...

Bayianteras Dimitris Gogos ( el, Δημήτρης Γκόγκος; 28 February 190318 November 1985) was one of the most influential singers and composers of rebetiko music. Also called Bayianteras ( el, Μπαγιαντέρας), a nickname that was given t ...

, and Panagiotis Toundas. Vassilis Tsitsanis once said that Pagioumtzis had '' nightingales in his throat''. Pagioumtzis died of a stroke on 16 November 1971 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, after completing a concert in a Greek nightclub.

Notes

External links

Στράτος Παγιουμτζής, 1904 – 1971
1904 births 1971 deaths People from Ayvalık 20th-century Greek male singers Greek rebetiko singers Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece {{Greece-singer-stub