Influential Cypriot composer Manos Loizos was born on this day

Manos Loizos was considered one of the most iconic Cypriot composers of his time. He composed for many famous Greek artists, such as Haris Alexiou, George Dalaras and Mikis Theodorakis.

Manos Loizos was born on October 22, 1937, in the village of Agioi Vavatsinias in the province of Larnaca. He was the only child of Andreas Loizos and Despina Manaki, the daughter of an agronomist from Rhodes.

At the age of seven, his family moved to Alexandria, Egypt, for better fortune. He enrolled in the National Conservatory of Alexandria and started learning the violin but ended up playing the guitar.

He composed many well-known Greek songs and has collaborated with various important composers, singers, and lyricists, such as Mikis Theodorakis, Haris Alexiou, George Dalaras, Vasilis Papakonstantinou, Christos Leontis, Fondas Ladis, Yannis Negrepontis, Manolis Rasoulis, Giannis Kalatzis, Nâzım Hikmet, and many others.

His best-known collaboration was with his very personal friend, lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos, who wrote the lyrics of many of Loizos’ most successful hits.

Some of Loizo’s most famous songs are :

“Ola se thymizoun (Everything Reminds Me of You)” Lyrics: Manolis Rassoulis

“Jamaica” Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

“S’ Akoloutho (I follow you)” Lyrics: Himself

“To Akordeon (The Accordion)” Lyrics: Yannis Negrepontis

“O Dromos (The Street)” Lyrics: Kostoula Mitropoulos

“Che” (dedicated to Che Guevara) Lyrics: Himself

“Ah Helidoni mu (Ah, my swallow)” Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

“De Tha Ksanagapiso (I Shall not Love Again)” Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

“Paporaki tou Burnova (Paporaki of Burnova)” Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

“O Koutalianos” Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

“Evdokia” (Instrumental Zeibekiko), which can be heard here.

He died on 17 September 1982 in a hospital in Moscow after suffering several strokes.

He was well known for his leftist political ideology, outspoken criticism of the Greek military junta, and active membership in the Greek Communist Party.

2007 was declared “Manos Loizos Year” in Greece.