Kostas Virvos, a well-known Greek folk songwriter and lyricist passed away at the age of 89, after suffering from serious health problems and a severe stroke. Virvos was born in 1926 in Trikala, Thessaly. He graduated from Panteion University in Athens, Greece.
In the early 1950s he started working as a folk music songwriter, and since then he has written over 2,000 songs, many of which have been classified classics. He collaborated with several leading Greek music composers and singers, including Mikis Theodorakis, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Grigoris Bithikotsis, Stelios Kazantzidis, George Dalaras and Yiannis Markopoulos.
The first song he released under his name was called “Na to vreis apo alli” in 1948, with music by Apostolos Kaldaras and sung by Soula Kalfopoulou and Markos Vamvakaris. Since then he created many hits such as “To karavi,” “To kourasmeno vima sou” and “Tis gerakinas yios.”
He was part of the National Liberation Front, the main movement of the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II, where he met Aris Velouchiotis, the leader and chief instigator of the Greek People’s Liberation Army.
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