Pyrros Spyromilios was a Greek Navy officer in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and later director of the Greek Radio Orchesta.

Spyromilios was born in Himara, southern Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 (a region that Greeks refer to as Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...

). He became an officer in the Hellenic Navy and participated in the Greco-Italian War

Greco-Italian War

The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...

 (1940-1941). During his service he was positioned in the Northern Epirus Naval Command. In December 1940, he participated in the military operations that led to the capture of his home town by the Greek military. In another occasion, on March 1, 1941, in charge of a small patrol boat he repelled an attack by an Italian submarine that approached the shores of Himara, in the Panormos sector.

After the end the war Spyromilios became director of the Greek Radio Orchestra. During this era a number of new music celebrities emerged in Greece with his support, like Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...

. Spyromilios also agreed to allow the composer Mikis Theodorakis

Mikis Theodorakis

Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...

 to use his ensemble, along with the popular bouzouki instrumentalist, Manolis Chiotis

Manolis Chiotis

Manolis Chiotis was a Greek Rebetiko composer, singer and bouzouki player. He was born on March 21, 1920 in Thessaloniki and died in 1970.- See also :* Bouzouki* Rebetes* Rebetiko* Laiko* Greek nightclubs* Greek music...

, and singer Grigoris Bithikotsis

Grigoris Bithikotsis

Grigoris Bithikotsis was a popular Greek folk singer/songwriter with a career spanning five decades.-Biography:...

, in a premier performance of the Epitaphios, a melodized poetic cycle by the leftist poet Yiannis Ritsos

Yiannis Ritsos

Yiannis Ritsos was a Greek poet and left-wing activist and an active member of the Greek Resistance during World War II.-Early life:...

, in Greek radio. This was a rare move at a time when, following the Greek Civil War

Greek Civil War

The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

, the Left and any works associated with it was suppressed.

Sources