Odysseas Dimitriadis

Odysseas Dimitriadis is a Georgian-Greek and Soviet conductor. During his 70-year career, Odysseas has conducted a number of the world's leading orchestras, as well as being the principal conductor of Georgia, the USSR State Orchestra and the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. In 1980, he conducted the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics held in Moscow. He is the recipient of numerous awards and titles, including Ambassador of Hellenism, People's Artist of the Soviet Union and the Gold Medal of Athens.

Dimitriadis was born in Batumi to a Pontic Greek family. His father was Achilles (who arrived in Batumi from Trebizond in 1886) and his mother was Kaliopi Efremidi.

He was five years old when his passion for music manifested itself. He tried to play his favorite melodies on the piano, without any knowledge of musical literacy. His systematic musical education began in 1918, when young Odysseas became a student of the great violinist Tiesenhausen. Unfortunately, Tiesenhausen was forced to emigrate. The new teacher was also the great violinist and composer - Leger.

The main problem of his youth was the fact that his father was a "lishenz", a person who owned private property (completely forbidden in the early Soviet years). This was the reason why his father advised Odysseas to move to Sukhumi, where his older brother Nikolaos lived and was in government service, immediately after graduating from high school in 1925.

After a year spent in Sukhumi, Odysseas arrived in Tbilisi, where he entered the conservatory.

After the revolution in Greece in 1974, Odysseas Dimitriadis visited his historical homeland annually. In Greece, he conducted various orchestras and established international relations. He played a very important role in the promotion of Greek composers such as Manolis Kalomiris, Spyridon Samaras, Antiochos Evangelatos and Mikis Theodorakis on the international stage.

On April 9, 1989, the mayor of Athens, Miltiadis Evert, awarded Odysseas with the Gold Medal of Athens.

In 1998, he was awarded the honorary distinction "Ambassador of Hellenism".

Maestro Dimitriadis spent his last years both in Athens and in Tbilisi. He made rare performances and public appearances (mostly in Tbilisi, with Dzhansug Kakhidze).

On April 28, 2005, the 97-year-old Dimitriadis died at his home in Tbilisi. He was buried with honors near the Opera and Ballet Theater, on the main street of the city. Prime Minister and Minister of Culture Costas Karamanlis said in a statement that Odysseas Dimitriadis "had the unique privilege in his long life to speak with the intercultural language of music to the hearts of the peoples of the then Soviet Union, of Greece and Georgia."