On this day, the Greek public remembers composer and musical theorist Manos Hadjidakis. Widely considered one of the greatest Greek songwriters of all time, his legacy has been maintained through modern Greek music in the second half of the 20th and into the 21st century.
Born in the northern town of Xanthi, Greece, on October 23, 1925, his love for music came from an early age, starting piano lessons at age four.
In 1943, he met the revered surrealist poet, Nikos Gatsos, who would go on to become his favourite lyricist and work with him on the vast majority of his vocal compositions.
Hadjidakis is mainly responsibly for helping usher in a new era of Greek music in the post-WWII era, elevating the earthiest strains of Greek folk and popular song into respected art forms.
In the process, he found tremendous popular success in his home country, chiefly through his work as a pop songwriter, and became familiar to international audiences through his movie soundtracks.
The critically acclaimed personality received an Academy Award in 1960, for Best Original Song for his song Never on Sunday from the film of the same name.
Dying in Athens on 15 June 1994 at the age of 68, from acute pulmonary edema, the City of Athens dedicated Technopolis in his memory in 1999.
