SEPTEMBER 14TH:

On this day in 2001, Stelios Kazantzidis, the greatest singer of Greek popular music in the 20th century, passed away from a brain tumor. His death was an emotional event for Greece. Kazantzidis was given a state funeral through the streets of Elefsina which was broadcast live on Greek television. His music was also beloved by the Greek diaspora, capturing their feelings in the difficult post-war period. He was commemorated on a Greek postage stamp in 2010. Kazantzidis was born in Nea Ionia, near Athens, to Haralambos Kazantzidis (of Pontian roots from Ordu) and Gesthimani Kazantzidis, (who came from the town of Alanya – Greek Korakesion in southern Asia Minor. He was orphaned at the age of 13 when his father, a member of the Greek Resistance, was beaten to death by right-wing guerillas during the Greek Civil War. This forced Kazantzidis to get menial jobs, but his life changed when the owner of a factory gave him a guitar. He spent long hours playing music and made his first public appearance at a Kifissia night club in the early 1950s. He recorded Giannis Papaioannou’s ‘The suitcases – Οι βαλίτσες’, which became the first of many hits. Kazantzidis collaborated with some of the biggest names in Greek music, among them Manolis Chiotis, Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, and Stavros Xarhakos.

SEPTEMBER 16TH:

On this day in 1977, opera legend Maria Callas died of a heart attack at age 53 in her Paris apartment. The newspaper The Guardian, reported Callas’ death the following day: “Maria Callas, the opera singer who put as much passion into her life as into her art, died in her Paris flat yesterday of a heart attack. She was 53. The ‘divine Callas’ was the international symbol of prima donnas, as much for her incomparable voice as for her tantrums and her long love affair with the Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis.” Born Maria Kalogeropoulos in New York City in 1923 to Greek immigrants, she went to Athens at 14 with her mother and her sister after her parents separated. She was accepted into the National Conservatoire, and won a prize in 1939 for her stage debut in Cavalleria Rusticana. After returning to the United States in 1944 in the midst of World War II, the 21 year-old Callas turned down the lead in Madama Butterfly, already preoccupied with her weight, thinking herself too heavy to play a fragile 14 year-old. A stormy marriage to Giovanni Battista Meneghini followed, during which her career, guided by him, soared. A torrid affair with Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis, a friend of her husband’s, broke up the marriage, but after a few years of a whirlwind relationship, he cast her aside to marry Jaqueline Kennedy. Devastated and already experiencing voice problems, Callas became addicted to diet pills and sleeping pills, and grew very reclusive in her later years. She is regarded by many as the greatest soprano ever to perform, and by most at least among the very elite.

SEPTEMBER 19TH:

On this day in 1982, Eleni Daniilidou, the Greek tennis player, was born in Chania, Crete. She is considered as one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour. In 2003, she reached the mixed-doubles final of the Australian Open, making her the first Greek player to have reached a Grand Slam final. Her highest singles ranking is world No. 14, making her the only female tennis player from Greece to have reached the top 20. No male tennis player had achieved this until Stefanos Tsitsipas reached 15th place on August 13, 2018. By beating Justine Henin in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first player to defeat a reigning French Open champion in the first round of Wimbledon.