Vangelis Papathanasiou

The internationally famous composer Vangelis Papathanasiou, known also simply as Vangelis, was born in Volos on 29 March, 1943. He is a self taught musician, as has refused to take classical piano lessons.

In Athens, he studied classical music, painting and direction in the Academy of Fine Arts – while in the beginning of 1960, he formed the group, Forminx, and in 1968, he moved to Paris where he formed the group, Aphrodite's Child, together with the singer Demis Roussos.

For the score with the same title as the film, "Chariots of Fire", Vangelis was honored with an Oscar in 1982.

He composed music for the theater and many famous movies. Among others, he worked with Irene Pappas in the tapings of "Odes" (1979) and "Rhapsodies" (1986) that include arrangements of folk songs and Byzantine hymns and with Ian Anderson of the group, Yes, in "Short Stories" (1979) and "The Friends of Mr. Cairo" (1981), and the Italian singer, Milva, in the L.P. "Tra du Sogni".

Vangelis Papathanasiou, died on 17 May, 2022 in Paris.