Famous Greeks Past & Present
Socrates The first of the three great Athenian Philosophers and considered to be the Father of Western Philosophy. Socrates taught that the unexamined life is not worth living and although he did not have his own definition of truth he believed in questioning what others believed as truth, which became known as the Socratic method, which involves solving a problem by breaking it down into a series of questions the answer to which will gradually distill the answer being sought and help you achieve genuine self knowledge. This angered many Athenians who believed Socrates constant questioning meant he was against democracy and as they did not agree with his teachings they charged him with Piety and corrupting the youth. He was tried and convicted of these charges and sentenced to death by drinking Hemlock.
Plato A classical Greek philosopher who is known today as one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Plato was a student of Socrates and practically everything we know about Socrates came from the writings of Plato as Socrates himself kept no written records during his life. Plato was a mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues and the founder of the Academy in Athens (the first university). Plato believed that men and women had the same intellectual powers, and was one of the first to teach that women should receive the same education as men. Following his death, his students preserved and copied almost all of his writings so that an almost complete record of his work exists today.
Aristotle Aristotle was sent to the Academy to study at the age of 17 and remained there as both student and teacher for the next 20 years. Following Plato’s death Aristotle left Athens, ending up in Macedonia where he became the teacher of Alexander the Great. When Alexander became King, Aristotle returned to Athens and opened his own school – The Lyceum. Aristotle leaned more towards science than either Socrates or Plato particularly biology and zoology although he also wrote on the subjects of theatre, poetry, politics, logic, ethics and government. His combined works are thought to constitute a virtual encyclopedia of Greek knowledge although sadly many of his writings have been lost and today it is thought that about only one fifth of his original work survives.
Hippocrates An ancient Greek physician, who is today referred to as the ‘Father of Medicine’ in recognition of his lasting contributions to the medical field and as the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine on the island of Kos. He is credited with greatly advancing the systematic study of clinical medicine and prescribing practices for physicians through the Hippocratic Oath and other works. He was the first to separate the discipline of medicine from religion, believing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the Gods but rather the product of environmental factors, diet and living conditions. Hippocrates observed his patients and was the first to record their symptoms and the way the illness progressed and this idea that you can understand and treat diseases by using careful observation and logical thought is very important to modern medicine.
El Greco Born in Crete as Domenikos Theotocopoulos and given the nickname El Greco (The Greek) by the Spaniards. El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. Little is known of his youth other than that he trained in the Byzantine School of Icon Painting. In 1567 he moved to Venice where he studied under Titian before moving onto Rome and by late 1577 El Greco settled in Toledo, Spain. The intense and unusual colours, the energy and the passionate involvement in his subject all combine to create El Greco’s distinctive and individual style.
Aristotle Onassis The most famous Greek shipping magnate of the 20th Century and the founder of Olympic Airways the Greek national carrier. Originally born in Smyrna he fled after the invasion of Turkish forces and headed to Greece as a refugee. From there he headed to Argentina where he revived the family tobacco business which after difficult beginnings began to flourish and made him his first million. He purchased his first ships in the 1930’s and later that decade became the first Greek to enter tanker business. In 1948 he married the daughter of another influential ship owner only to divorce in 1961. He had a long term relationship with the Greek opera singer Maria Callas which he ended to marry Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy in 1968. Aristotle Onassis died in 1978 at the age of 69 and is buried on his private island of Skorpios in Greece.
Maria Callas An American born Greek operatic soprano. One of the greatest and most versatile operatic singers in recent history with a voice that is difficult to place in the modern vocal classification. She sang an incredible variety of roles and gave some of the most emotive and visually dramatic performances. She married Giovanni Battista Meneghini in 1949. In 1957 whilst still married she was introduced to the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and the start of their affair signaled the end of her marriage and she left Meneghini in 1959. However her relationship with Aristotle Onassis was a stormy one which ended when he married Jackqueline Bouvier Kennedy in 1968, a blow from which it is said Maria never recovered. Following her final public performance in 1974 in Japan she lived her last years in virtual isolation in Paris where she died of a heart attack in 1977.
Nikos Kazantzakis Author of poems, essays and plays he is arguably the most important and most translated Greek writer of the 20th century. His most famous novels include Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ, the latter of which was considered quite controversial when first published and appeared on the Roman Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books. On the 28th June 1956 in Vienna, he was awarded the International Peace Award. He is buried on one of the bastions of the Venetian fort surrounding Heraklion (in Crete) with his words ‘I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free’ engraved as the epitaph of his tomb.
Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a world renowned Greek composer of electronic, new age and classical music. He is a largely self taught musician who although fascinated by sound and music from an early age does not have a substantial knowledge of reading and writing musical notation. During a career that has spanned more than 30 years his work has received worldwide appreciation and received many awards, most notably winning the Academy Award for Original Music Score for the film Chariots of Fire. Vangelis has stayed close to his Greek roots producing scores for the epic movie ‘Alexander’ and more recently for the film ‘El Greco’. He was also the composer of the 2002 FIFA official world cup anthem.
Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most popular Greek composers. Born on the Greek island of Chios, he was fascinated by music as a child and taught himself to write his first songs without access to musical instruments. He studied at both the Athens Conservatory and the Conservatoire of Paris. He became internationally famous when he composed the score for the Michael Cacoyiannis film "Zorba the Greek" starring Anthony Quinn. A Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1967 for the leftist EDA party, in 1970 he was exiled after various imprisonments for political reasons and returned to Greece in 1974.
Yanni Born Yannis Chryssomallis in Kalamata in the Peloponesse, he moved to America when he was 18 years old. Yanni is a self taught pianist, keyboarder and composer with perfect pitch. Although producing and selling hugely successful albums from the mid 80’s his breakthrough commercial success came with the release of his album and video “Yanni live at the Acropolis”, filmed in September 1993 and played repeatedly by the American station PBS. He has composed music for commercials, soundtracks and sporting events and performed live in concert in front of in excess of two million people in more than 20 countries around the world. In his youth Yanni was a keen swimmer and in 1969 at age 14, broke the Greek national record for the men’s 50 metre swimming freestyle .
Nana Mouskouri Born as Ioanna Mouskouri on the Greek island of Crete, Nana speaks five languages, but sings her songs in more than 15 different languages earning her a place as one of the top ten best selling female recording artists ever. Nana Mouskouri has one vocal cord that is thicker than the other and this unusual condition accounts for her unique voice. Originally a student of the Athens Conservatory of music, Nana left when her professor insisted she turn her back on all other types of music and sing only classical works. Nana has steadfastly pursued many types of music and sold over 300 million albums worldwide.
Demis Rousos Born Artemios Ventouris Roussos in Egypt to ethnic Greek parents his parents returned to their homeland of Greece after the Suez Crisis. After spending five years as lead singer of the group “We Five” and achieving great popularity especially in Europe, Demis embarked on a solo career that saw him touring the globe and releasing many worldwide hits in a career that has spanned more then 40 years. Demis was one of the passengers of TWA flight 847 that was hijacked on 14th June 1985.
Melina Mercouri Born Maria Amalia Mercouri in Athens, she was an Academy Award nominated Greek actress, singer and political activist. Melina became know to international audiences when she starred in the film Never on a Sunday directed by her future husband Jules Dassin. Elected to the Hellenic Parliament in 1977 she became the first female to hold the senior cabinet post of Minister for Culture in Greece. In this role she proposed the Cultural Capital of Europe ideal, which recognises a city of Europe as the centre of many cultural festivities, every 4 years. She also advocated the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece (also known as the Elgin marbles).
Elia Kazan Born Elias Kazanjoglou in 1909 in Constantinople (then part of the Ottoman Empire) to Greek parents, his family emigrated to the United States in 1913 and settled in New York. Elia Kazan started his career as an actor but it is his career as a director that bought him most notoriety and several awards for movies that include A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront and East of Eden. In 1991 Elia Kazan received an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement. He was one of the co-founders of the influential Actors Studio in 1947. Controversially Kazan testified to the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Under threat of ostracism and blacklisting by the Hollywood studios, he was among the first to cooperate with the HUAC in 1952, which led to the blacklisting that ruined many careers in Hollywood because of their political beliefs and he was in turn shunned and ostracized by many of his former friends.
Of Greek descent:
Jennifer Aniston Best know for her role as Rachel Green in the hit American Comedy ‘Friends’.
Nia Vardalos Actor, writer and producer of the hit movie ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’.
Telly Savalas Best known for his role as Lt Theo Kojak in the hit TV series.
Pete Sampras Former world No 1 tennis player.
Olympia Dukakis Star of both stage and screen and winner of the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance in Moonstruck.
Billy Zane Movie actor known for his roles in Titanic, Memphis Bell and Dead Calm.
Melina Kanakaredes Member of the cast of the hit American TV show ‘CSI: New York’.
John Stamos Known for his role in the popular tv comedy ‘Full House’ and more recently for his role in the hit medical series ‘ER’
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