Famous Greek lyricist, singer and writer Manolis Rasoulis, 66, was found dead on his bed in his home in Thessaloniki on Sunday. Coroner’s autopsy showed that he died from a heart attack that occurred eight days ago. Rasoulis friends and relatives were alarmed after he did not answered their phone calls and finally ordered a locksmith to open the door to his flat.
Manolis Rasoulis had a long successful carrer of over four decades with 22 CDs and 8 books. He wrote Greek evergreens like “Ola se Thymizoun”, “Ah Ellada” and “Pote Voudas, Pote Koudas”.
Video: Xaris Alexiou Ola se Thymizoun
Rasoulis was born in Iraklion, Crete in September 1945, and as a child sang in the church choir of the town’s patron Saint Minas, before leaving for Athens to study cinematography. He started his artistic career as a singer in the Plaka district in Athens, while at the same time writing for the left-wing newspaper Dimokratiki Allagi (Democratic Change)”.
Video: Manolis Rasoulis Ah Ellada
During the military dictatorship he went to London, where he stayed for six years and joined the Trotsky movement, where he first met Vanessa Redgrave with whom he collaborated twice in political performances.
In May 1968 he took part in the students’ uprising in Paris and returned to Athens shortly after the Polytechnic students’ uprising that paved the way for the collapse of the junta.
He resumed his singing career shortly after his return to Greece, in a collaboration with composer Manos Loizos, but his later collaboration with Nikos Xydakis made his name a household word in Greece. Other collaborations included composers Stavros Kouyoumtzis, Socrates Malamas and Christos Nikolopoulos, who put his lyrics to music.
His songs were popular in Israel, Turkey and Serbia, and even in far-away Japan. (Athens News Agency)
