Theodorakis, Mikis , 1925-2021, Greek composer and politician, b. Chios island, Greece, Athens Conservatoire (1950). Theodorakis showed interest in music since childhood, staging his first concert at age 17. During World War II, he went to Athens to study music (1943-50), and became a member of the Greek resistance, beginning a long association with the Communist party. In 1953, he moved to Paris to study music there, where his first orchestral works in a European style were premiered and widely praised. In 1960, he returned to Greece and began developing a style of music that wed traditional Greek music and poetry with classical forms, achieving international fame for his score to the film Zorba the Greek (1964). In 1963, he resumed his political activism following the murder of Greek activist Grigoris Lambrakis by far-right extremists. (His murder was the subject of the 1969 film, Z, which Theodorakis scored.) When the Greek military overthrew the government in 1967, Theodorakis's music was banned and he was imprisoned; on his release, he was sent into exile in a remote mountainous region. Following international protests, he was released to live in Paris in 1970, but could not return to his native country until after the downfall of the military junta in 1974. He continued to be active in politics, serving in the Greek Parliament (1981-86 and 1989-93), and then became the director of the Hellenic State Radio's orchestras and choir. His best-known work from this period was his "Mauthausen Trilogy" (1988), a series of arias honoring the 50 anniversary of the liberation of Austria's Mauthausen concentration camp. In later life, he returned to composing symphonies and operas. In addition to his music, he wrote several books addressing world politics and several volumes of poetry. Among his awards and honors were the Lenin Peace Prize (1983), Officer of the Legion of Honor, France (1996), and the International Music Prize, UNESCO (2005). He was also named an Honorary Member of the Academy of Athens (2013).
See his autobiography (5 vols., 1985-95).
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