Lefteris (Eleftherios) Papadopoulos (; born 14 November 1935) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

, writer and journalist. Lefteris Papadopoulos was born in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

on 14 November 1935. He was the son of Greek Pontian refugees, with a father from a village near

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and a mother from a village near

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. His parents were expelled in 1924 during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. He enrolled at the Law School of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

but stopped during his third year in order to work as a journalist. Since 1959 Papadopoulos has worked in the newspaper Ta Nea and has become a popular columnist over time. Papadopoulos became involved with music in 1963. He has written the lyrics for about 1,200 songs and has co-worked with nearly all of the well-known musicians, composers and singers of his generation, namely

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films '' Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' (1969), and '' Serpico'' (1973). He was a three-ti ...

, Stavros Xarhakos, Manos Loizos, Stavros Koujioumtzis,

Mimis Plessas Dimitrios "Mimis" Plessas (; 12 October 1924 – 5 October 2024) was a Greek musician, composer, conductor and pianist. Life and career Plessas was born in Athens. He attended the Lycée Léonin school in the Athens suburb of Nea Smyrni, and ...

, Christos Nikolopoulos, Stelios Kazantzidis, Grigoris Bithikotsis, George Dalaras, Marinella, Viki Mosholiou and others. In 1969, composer

's work of songs "O Dromos", to which Papadopoulos contributed the lyrics, became the fastest selling Greek album. Of all the creative partnerships that Papadopoulos has had with Greek composers, that of his close friend Manos Loizos is considered a landmark of his career. Papadopoulos contributed lyrics to some Greek songs from 1960 to 1990. He also wrote a few literary books, and one about the lyricist Eftichia Papagianopoulou. He has presented various programmes about

Greek Music The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its History of Greece, history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek folk music, Greek traditional music and Byzantine music. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originat ...

on television; the most recent, entitled "Makrines Filies" (Remote Friendships), was broadcast on National Television, ERT. Papadopoulos is married to a theatrical director and has a son and a daughter as well as two grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papadopoulos, Lefteris 1935 births Living people Writers from Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Journalists from Athens Greek television presenters Modern Greek poets Greek lyricists 20th-century Greek poets Mass media people from Athens