Flags will be flown at half-mast on all public buildings, and all public celebrations will be postponed for a three-day period of national mourning due to death the great Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis on Thursday morning.
His family has decided that his coffin will be in the Athens Cathedral for three days next week – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so that the public can show respect and reverence. Participation can take place from 10 am to 7 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and from 10 am to 2 pm on Thursday 7-9 September.
The funeral service is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the cathedral on Thursday September 9, his family said in a statement.
Mikis Theodorakis died at the age of 96 at his home in the Macrianni district of Athens, leaving behind his wife Mirto, children Margarita, Giorgos and grandchildren.
Hearing the news of his death, hundreds of Greeks rushed to his house for the last goodbye.
“Immortal, immortal”
At noon Thursday, exciting moments unfolded in front of the house of Mikis Theodorakis under the Acropolis, where the townspeople gathered to sincerely say goodbye to the great creator. They shouted “Immortal, immortal” while the coffin with the body of Mikis Theodorakis was carried to the hearse.
Theodorakis has suffered from health problems for the past couple of years. His health deteriorated over the past ten days, but he refused hospitalization and was treated with oxygen at home.
His last wish was to be buried in his father’s home village of Galatas near Chania in Crete.
However, according to media reports, his family is considering first burying him in Vrahati in the Peloponnese, where he also had a home, and fulfilling his last wish three years later.
The Greek political and artistic world, former work colleagues, made statements about the great Greek’s death, while foreign media reported his death around the world.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a three-day national mourning for the death of Mikis Theodorakis, repeating the famous phrase said at the time of the death of the national poet Kostis Palamas: “We believed that he was not mortal.” The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, in her message, after identifying the enormous importance of Mikis Theodorakis both at the national and international levels, concludes that Greece is now in mourning.
The largest and most important newspapers in the world, as well as news agencies, broadcast news of the death of Mikis Theodorakis on their front pages. All of them indicate that the name of the Greek creator symbolizes – both in the country and around the world – resistance to the German occupiers, resistance to the junta of colonels, as well as leftist political identity.
Theodorakis brought Greek poetry to the lips of all Greeks, who for decades sang and sang the lyrics of the greatest Greek poets who became immortal, not only thanks to the Nobel Prizes and other international and national awards, but also thanks to the notes signed by the great creator. Mikis Theodorakis, passing to immortality, leaves behind a huge amount of work. From operas, oratorios and symphonies to Byzantine hymns, church music and folk songs.
He managed – or convinced – great film and theater actors to collaborate with him, and it was impressive how the great Edith Piaf, who suffered from arthritis in the last period of her life, sang Theodarakis’ song “Beautiful City” in French.
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