Our Culture is poorer
On Wednesday an article was posted on protothema.gr with the people of world culture who “they left” from life it 2011. As hard as it is to write about the deaths of Elizabeth Taylor and Sidney Lumet, imagine how hard the hand can type names like Thanasis Veggos and Nikos Papazoglou…
The current image of Greece does not “says” the truth.
As much culture as this country has produced, no other countries have done it together. When society was oppressed, then his role “alarm clock” he was played by art. Unfortunately many “alarm clocks” consciences left the 2011 and they left a huge void, not only in Greek culture, but in the global.
In the list below, an attempt was made to mention all the great Greeks who left us in the 2011. Let's hope so 2012, the corresponding list to be shorter.
Upon hearing the news of the death of Thanasis Veggos, everyone felt a shiver run through them. All media were titled “Our good man, he left”. What can one say about the tireless Thanasis, the Thanasis of our hearts, the Thanasis of the soul of every Greek. It is difficult to begin to describe his artistic career and even more difficult to describe what he has contributed to Greek culture. They have been recorded to his credit 126 movies, The day for the draw of the two lucky ones 52 as the lead actor and had directed seven more films. One of the most popular of Greek cinema, while until recently he continued to appear in films, on television and the theater.
Michalis Kakogiannis is one of the few Greeks who is so recognized abroad. He has associated his name with three Oscar nominations, for the unforgettable film “Zorbas”, where Anthony Quinn, with the help of Kakogiannis, they showed the Greek greatness in all its spectrum. Also, we can't not mention the movies “Electra”, “Stella” and “Iphigenia”.
The 2011 was also stigmatized by the death of Nikos Papazoglou, of a low-key artist. But his death deeply moved the Greeks. He started his career in the 60's going through Olympians and Zealot. He collaborated for many years with Dionysis Savvopoulos, Manoli Rasouli and Nikos Xydakis. He became widely known with Manolis Rasouli's record, “The revenge of the cast”. We will be humming some of his songs for many years to come, like him “August” and “I am not a poet”.
A month ago, Manolis Rasoulis also traveled to the land of angels. Lyricist, author, singer, composer, journalist or simply, servant of culture, until the last moment. His verses have been set to music, including, Manos Loizos, Stavros Kouyoumtzis, Nikos Xydakis, Petros Vagiopoulos, Socrates Malamas and Christos Nikolopoulos.
The author of the work of the same name is now located in the Angelo neighborhood, Iakovos Kampanelis, our great playwright and journalist. Other known works of his, mainly for the theater, “Seventh day of creation”, “The Court of Miracles”, “A tale without a name”, ” Viva Aspasia”, “Odysseus returned home”, “Colony of the punished” and “Our big circus”.His works have been translated and performed in England, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Sweden.
The writer and politician Nikos Themelis in age 64 years, after a long battle with cancer, left a great void in Greek culture. He wrote several novels ("The Search" 1998, "The Upheaval" 2000, "The Flash" 2003, "For a fellowship among us" 2005, “A life, two lives" 2007, "The truths of others" 2008 and "Dream Deal" 2010), with references to Hellenism of the last three centuries.
The area of culture is huge and of course the Word Processor or Andreas Marnezos as he is known could not be missing from it. In fact, he was the one who brought the fashion of piercing and tattoos to our country. But he became known for his songs in the rap field. He was also a hip hop producer, founder of the Greek underground hip hop group called BarCodeCrew (BCC).
Recently “he left” from the life of Loukia Rikaki. She was in charge of educational programs of the IYF International Youth Federation. She has taught in executive education programs at the Council of Europe's European Youth Center and has been coordinator of the Council of Europe's research program on audiovisuals in education., the 1990. She was a member of the European Youth Forum education committee and was in charge of cinema in teacher seminars of the MELINA program 2000. Documentary is her great passion.
Because it is not possible to mention in detail the careers of all the great Greeks of our culture “they left” the 2011, each is briefly mentioned, in his capacity.
Yannis Karamitsopoulos (poet and publisher), Yannis Karabesinis (folk songwriter and bouzouki master), Akis Cleanthus (former Minister of Education and Culture of Cyprus), Spyros Alamanos (painter, engraver, graphic designer and photographer), Yannis Varveris (poet, critic, essayist and translator), Takis Varvitsiotis (poet), Alexandros Yotis (chef, tastemaker and writer), Anna Gertsou-Sarri (writer and translator), Markos N. Dragoumi (writer and politician), Anthi Zaharatou (speaker and actor), Kate Lampropoulou (actor), Yannis Lambrou (director), Vangelis Livadas (theatrical entrepreneur), Lykourgos Kallergis (actor, director, drama teacher, stylist – translator and MP), Kostas Balafas (photographer), Theoni Vahliotis-Aldridge (Oscar-winning costume designer), Christos Tsagas (actor), John Modinos (baritone – musical), Stratos Kamenidis (composer), Yannis Vasilopoulos (musical – clarinetist), Dimitris Katsaganis (poet), Nikos Alexiou (imaginative ), Vlasis Kaniaris (imaginative), George Perros (painter), Dimitris Laletas (painter), Tasos Zografos (painter and scenographer), Tonia Nikolaidis (engraver and painter), Monica Vassiliou (actor and director), Stavros Zoras (singer), Sarantis Karavouzis (imaginative – painter), Sophia Filtisi (author), Manos Loukakis (poet and critic), Ioannis Daglis (maintainer – imaginative), Vassilis Platanos (journalist, folklorist, author), Takis Varlamos (dancer and choreographer), Anthi Zaharatou (speaker and actor), Kostas Zacharakis (actor), Efi Metaggitsinou (actor), Spyros Alamanos (painter, engraver, graphic designer and photographer), Konstantinos Kavarnos (professor and author), Vasilis Andreopoulos (actor and writer), Nikos Minardos (actor), Pepi Svoronu (painter), Pavlos Tassios (director), Diana Antonakatu (painter), Thanasis Fabas (painter), Marios Leousis – Lesini (magician), Chrysanthos Kyprianou (philologist, educational, author and folklorist), Angel Skordilis (musical, singer), Sasha Kritsi (actor), Dinos Katsouridis (director, editor and cinematographer).
