Vassilis Tsitsanis

Biography

Tsitsanis was born in Trikala, in Thessaly, Greece. His family came from the region of Epirus. He has been described as having been an Aromanian, and his surname Tsitsanis could indicate some connection with the Aromanians of Metsovo. He was the only figure performing rebetiko at his time coming from the Greek mainland and not from the islands. This may be the reason why he was sometimes known as "the Vlach" by his fellow musicians, although this could be due to the actually Aromanian ethnic origin of Tsitsanis (as Aromanians are known as Vlachs in Greece). It is also rumored that Stratos Pagioumtzis gave him this nickname. Tsitsanis was also nicknamed "Tsilias".

From a young age, Tsitsanis was interested in music and learned to play violin, mandola and mandolin which were mainstays of so many of his songs. In 1936, he left for Athens to study law, and by 1937 had also learned bouzouki and made his first musical recording. In 1938, he moved to Thessaloniki, where he completed his military service, and stayed there for about ten years, during the German occupation of Greece. There he became famous, opened also an ouzeri, got married and wrote many of his best songs that were later recorded after the end of the War. By the shut-down of the record companies by the German occupation Forces in 1941, he had already recorded about 100 of his own songs and played on many recordings of other composers.

In 1946, Tsitsanis returned to Athens and began recording many of his own compositions that made famous many of the singers that worked with him, such as Sotiria Bellou (Σωτηρία Μπέλου), Marika Ninou (Μαρίκα Νίνου), Ioanna Georgakopoulou and Prodromos Tsaousakis. Tsitsanis developed the "westernization" of the rebetiko and made it more known to large sections of the population, setting also the bases for the future laiko.

Vassilis Tsitsanis was a close friend with Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of the country. Tsitsanis died at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London following a lung operation, on his sixty-ninth birthday. He was mourned across Greece, where his music is still enjoyed to this day and he is regarded as a legend of rebetiko music.

Notes

References

Ordoulidis, Nikos. ‘Η δισκογραφική καριέρα του Βασίλη Τσιτσάνη (1936–1983). Ανάλυση της μουσικής του μέσω των ηχογραφήσεων εμπορίου. Τέσσερα καίρια προβλήματα της έρευνας.’ Διαδικτυακό περιοδικό Η Κλίκα (2011).

References

1. (18 January 2021). "Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης: Ο «Βλάχος» απ΄ τα Τρίκαλα που αναγέννησε το ρεμπέτικο". Thessalikos.
2. Kahl, Thede. (2009). ""Being Vlach, singing Greek": Greek-Aromanian music contacts in the Pindus mountain range. The Aromanians or Vlachs in the Pindus". Carmina Balcanica.
3. Patouli, Krystalia. (20 September 2011). "Μια φορά κι ένα τραγούδι: Ο Ντίνος Χριστιανόπουλος για τον Τσιτσάνη". TVXS.
4. Stathakopoulos, Dimitris. (20 January 2015). "Β.Τσιτσάνης - Από τη μαντόλα στο μπουζούκι και από τη Νομική στο πάλκο". KALAVRYTA-NEWS.
5. Demetis, Christos. (18 January 2014). "30 χρόνια από τον θάνατο του Βασίλη Τσιτσάνη - Το άγνωστο αντιστασιακό τραγούδι και η θητεία με τον Φλωράκη". News247.
6. Η ΕΡΕΥΝΑ, Tsitsanis and Andreas Papandreou, 20 January 2009