Mikis Theodorakis — the Zorba who defended the Serbs

Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021), the legendary Greek composer whose music for the film „Zorba the Greek" is known throughout the world, was much more than a musician. He was a fighter for freedom who survived the Nazi occupation, the Greek civil war and the military junta — and who in 1999, at the age of 74, stood by the Serbian people against the NATO aggression.

Musician, fighter, human being

Theodorakis spent his whole life fighting for justice. As a young man, he fought in the Greek resistance movement against the Nazis. After the war, he was imprisoned and persecuted for his left-wing views. During the military junta (1967-1974), his music was banned, and he himself was imprisoned and tortured. When he regained his freedom, he continued to use music and public engagement as a weapon against injustice.

1999 — older but unreconciled

When NATO began the bombing of Serbia, Theodorakis was 74 years old. He could have kept silent — he was old, tired, he had earned his peace. But Theodorakis never chose peace when he saw injustice.

He immediately publicly condemned the bombing and called on the Greek people to protest. He organised concerts of solidarity with the Serbian people in Athens and Thessaloniki, at which thousands of Greeks expressed their support. His music, which for decades had been a symbol of resistance to tyranny, now became a symbol of resistance to the new aggression.

A visit to Belgrade

Theodorakis visited Belgrade during the bombing. He walked the streets of the city that had heard his melodies while bombs fell on it. He met with citizens, musicians, intellectuals. His arrival was an act of solidarity that deeply moved the Serbian people — at a moment when it seemed that the whole world was against Serbia, the legendary Greek came to stand by it.

At one of his performances in Belgrade, Theodorakis said: „Serbs and Greeks are brothers. Brothers by faith, by history, by suffering. When a brother suffers, you do not keep silent. You sing — you sing to give him strength."

Music as resistance

Theodorakis believed in the power of music to bring people together and give them strength in the hardest moments. His compositions, inspired by Greek folk music and the universal themes of freedom and resistance, had a special resonance for the Serbian people who were living through the bombing at that very time. The melody of „Zorba" — that famous, slowly beginning music that gradually rises into ecstasy — became a metaphor for the unconquerability of the spirit.

The legacy of a great Greek

Mikis Theodorakis died in 2021 at the age of 96. For the Serbs, he remained a synonym for Greek solidarity and brotherhood — a great artist who did not keep silent when he should have spoken, who came when all others fled. His music is heard in Serbia to this day, not only as art, but also as a reminder of a friendship that was tempered in fire.

When you hear the first note of „Zorba", remember the old Greek who came to Belgrade while the bombs were falling, to say to the Serbs: „You are not alone." Lest it be forgotten.