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Ευτυχία Παπαγιαννοπούλου

(1893 - 1972) Grandmother to: [a=Ρέα Μανέλη]. Probably the most important Greek lyricist also: teacher, actress and poet, born in Αϊδίνι (Aidini) της Μικράς Ασίας (Minor Asia) 1911 at the age of 17 she married Κωστής Νικολαΐδης (a very older man) with matchmaking. Together they got 2 children: Μαίρη and Καίτη. 1919 she witnessed for 3 days the horror that "Τσέτες" brought in Asia Minor, the images of rape, butchering and burning never fade from her her mind. Then in 1922 she was forced to leave her homeland after the Asia Minor catastrophe / holocaust. When she got in Athens she got separated from her man and married in 1928 Γιώργος Παπαγιαννόπουλος after falling in love with him. 1948 at the age of 55 she began to write lyrics (she started publishing poetic collections earlier) forced after her bad habit (gambling) Totally unorganized, she wrote her songs on packs of cigarettes, bills etc. It was [a=Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης] that taught her how to write songs with a refrain, not poems. That same passion made her wanting to be paid for a song instantly for a few drachmas and not with monthly % from ΑΕΠΙ and songs credited to her name. That lead to the problem of not getting credited (and getting most of her songs stolen) also at that time lyricists were not credited on releases. [a=Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης] did take songs from her, changed them a little and then credit them as his own, one example of this is the song: «Τα Καβουράκια». Fact remains that since 1948 she gave many great song in the composers / singers of the era for a few drachmas. She admits that they were taken advantage of her because she let them to do so: «Με εκμεταλλεύτηκαν εν γνώσει μου. Εγώ, η τρελή, τους παρακάλαγα να τα αγοράσουν». Her first song that recorded was: "Για μια γυναίκα χάθηκα" in 1951. She wrote: «Αντιλαλούνε τα βουνά» for the fear of losing her husband Γιώργος Παπαγιαννόπουλος. «Δυο πόρτες έχει η ζωή» and «Είμαι αητός χωρίς φτερά» in 1960 when her older daughter Μαίρη died. «Ηλιοβασιλέματα», «Πάρε το δάκρυ μου» and «Περασμένες μου αγάπες» were given to [a=Μανώλης Χιώτης] also he never went against her when she was telling in public that specific songs were hers. Most of her songs will remain unknown because only few of her creations were credited to her. However, her songs influenced the Greek discography considerably [Rempetiko / Laiko] genre, some of her songs she wrote are: «Φεύγω με πίκρα στα ξένα», «Γυάλινος κόσμος», «Θα βρω μουρμούρη μπαγλαμά», «Όνειρο απατηλό», «Στο τραπέζι που τα πίνω», «Στου Αποστόλη το κουτούκι», «Ρίξτε στο γυαλί φαρμάκι», «Μου σπάσανε το μπαγλαμά», «Ανεμώνα», «Αργά, είναι πια αργά», «Λίγο-λίγο, θα με συνηθίσεις», «Πήρα απ' τη νιότη χρώματα», «Αν είναι η αγάπη έγκλημα», «Η διπρόσωπη», «Ένας αϊτός γκρεμίστηκε», «Συρματοπλέγματα βαριά», «Τι έχει και κλαίει το παιδί», «Η Μαλάμω», «Πετραδάκι, πετραδάκι», «Του ντερβίση το πιοτό», «Τι να σου κάνει μια καρδιά», «Μαντουμπάλα», «Πήρα τη στράτα κι έρχομαι», «», «», «», «», «», «», «», «», «», «» Very few composers credit her with her songs like [a=Απόστολος Καλδάρας] and [a=Manos Hadjidakis] [a=Στέλιος Καζαντζίδης] admitted that the lyrics of the song «Δυο πόρτες έχει η ζωή» were written by her and the song was sold to him for 250 drachmas (very small amount..)! Unfortunately there were not other artist to follow the example of Στέλιος. As she said: Το λαϊκό «γράφεται πρώτα με την καρδιά και το συναίσθημα και ύστερα με τεχνική. Κι έτσι μόνο μας αναστατώνει, μας βάζει σε κίνηση, μας προβληματίζει» She never chased fame recognition or even her rights for the songs she wrote, she wrote them and she gave them away.. "Εγώ γράφω τραγούδια και τα πουλώ. Από κει και πέρα δεν ανακατεύομαι αν θα πιάσουν ή όχι, αν θα βγουν ή δε θα βγουν σε δίσκους. Μόλις τα παραδώσω, υπογράφω και μια δήλωση παραιτήσεως από διάφορα δικαιώματα, ας πούμε απαρνούμαι τα πνευματικά μου τέκνα...", δήλωνε σε συνέντευξή της (εφημερίδα Ακρόπολις 1960) Died in Athens, on 7th of January (Ιανουαρίου) 1972. A biography movie created in 2019 titled "Ευτυχία" based on the book of her granddaughter [a=Ρέα Μανέλη] titled: "Η Γιαγιά μου η Ευτυχία" 2003.

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Ευτυχία Παπαγιαννοπούλου

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