Tzeni Vanou ( el, Τζένη Βάνου, born Eugenia Vrachnou; 10 February 1939 – 5 February 2014) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

singer, born in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

. She had planned on studying

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

, but she met her mentor, Greek composer

Mimis Plessas Mimis Plessas ( el, Μίμης Πλέσσας; born 12 October 1924) is a Greek composer born in Athens. He began his career in 1952 and has written music for over 100 films, television and radio programs, and theatrical events. He has worked wit ...

, who persuaded her to become a singer. She began her career in 1959 performing with the ERT orchestra. In 1964, she won first prize in the

Thessaloniki Song Festival The Thessaloniki Song Festival ( el, Φεστιβάλ Τραγουδιού Θεσσαλονίκης, ), officially the Greek Song Festival ( el, Φεστιβάλ Ελληνικού Τραγουδιού, ) was a Greek song festival hosted between 1 ...

. At age 74, she died at a

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saro ...

hospital in 2014 from cancer. During her last few months, she had undergone surgery to remove a tumor in her

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about ...

. She died five days before her 75th birthday.

References

External links

* 1939 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Greek women singers Thessaloniki Song Festival winners Singers from Athens Deaths from cancer in Greece {{Greece-singer-stub