Greek and Famous Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vangelis Papathanasiou

Vangelis was born in Volos in 1943. He studied music, painting and film directing at the Athens School of Arts. In the early 1960s he formed a group called Forminx. In 1968 he left Greece and settled in Paris. There he formed the group Aphrodite's Child with Demis Rousos. He composed music for the films "Blade Runner", "Antarctica", "Conquest of Paradise", "Alexander" and "El Greco".

Answer: Manos Hatzidakis

Manos Hatzidakis is one of the most successful and well known of Greek composers. He was born in Xanthi in 1925 and died in Athens in 1994. He started playing the piano at the age of four and also learned to play violin and accordion. He worked as a labourer at Piraeus port, as an ice seller, as a photographer's assistant among others.

He also started studying music and philosophy. He started writing music in 1944. Some of his best works include "The Chalk Circle" (1956), "Tale without Name" (1959), "Mythology" (1965) and "Captain Michalis" (1966).

Answer: Georgios Papanikolaou

Papanikolaou was born in Kymi on the island of Evia in 1883 and died in Miami in 1962. At the age of 15 he started studying medicine at the University of Athens and got his degree in 1904. In 1907 he went to Germany for further studies and then in 1913 settled permanently in the USA.

He did most his research work at Cornell. In 1928 he announced his "New diagnosis of cancer". In 1961 he went to live in Miami. He was twice proposed for the Nobel Prize. Today the "Pap Test" is widely used for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer.

Answer: Spyridon Louis

Louis was born in Marousi, now a suburb in North Athens, in 1873 and died in 1940. He was a water carrier. He won the 1896 Marathon in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds. He never ran another Marathon. He was invited for the Berlin Olympics in 1936 as a guest of honour. The Olympic stadium in Athens was named in his honour.

Answer: Giorgos Seferis

Seferis was born in Smyrna in 1900. He started his education in Smyrna and completed it in Athens in 1918. He then studied law at Sorbonne in Paris and got his doctorate in 1924. Upon his return in Athens he was appointed to the Greek ministry of foreign affairs.

He served as ambassador of Greece to London from 1957 until 1962. He published his first work called "Strofi (Turn)" in 1931. He wrote both poetry and prose. He died in 1971.

Answer: Odysseas Elytis

Elytis was born Odysseas Alepoudelis in Heraklion, Crete in 1911. His family moved to Athens in 1914 where he got his education. He started publishing his work in a magazine called "Diaplasis Ton Pedon (The Character Formation of Boys)". In 1930 he starts writing poems that are published under a pseudonym.

His first poetic work "Prosanatolismi (Orientations)" was published in 1939. He served as second lieutenant during the Greek-Italian war in 1940-41. He lived and worked in Paris and London between 1948 and 1952.

He published his most famous "Axion Esti (It is Worthy)" in 1959. He died in 1996.

Answer: Georgios Samaras

Georgios Samaras was born in Heraklion, Crete in 1985 and he is the son of Greek international football player Yiannis Samaras. He started playing for Cretan side OFI. In 2001 his father was appointed as technical director of the Dutch club Heerenveen and took Georgios with him.

He played for the Dutch club until 2006 when he was transferred to Manchester City. In 2008 he was transferred to Glasgow Celtic where he played until 2014. He was a member of the Greek squad that won the Euro 2004.

Answer: Nicos Dabizas

Nicos Dabizas was born in 1973 in a town called Aminteo near Florina in Northern Greece. He started playing for the local club Hermes before going to play for a team in Veria. He was transferred to Olympiacos Piraeus in 1994 where he played until 1998.

He was then transferred to Newcastle United and he played there until 2004. He then played for Leicester City for 18 months, before returning to play in Greece. He was a member of the Greek squad that won the Euro 2004.

Answer: Nana Mouskouri

Ioanna (Nana) Mouskouri was born in Chania, Crete in 1934. She started music lessons when she was 12. She was accepted at the Athens Odeon where she studied music and song. In 1958 she took the first prize at the first Athens song festival. In 1960 she won first prize at the European song festival in Barcelona.

Her first international hit was "The White Rose of Athens" in 1961. In 1962 she recorded her first album in America called "The Girl from Greece Sings". In 1963 she settled permanently in Paris and in the same year she represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision song contest.

She continued to have great success both in Europe and the USA. In 1994 she was elected to represent Greece in the European Parliament.

Answer: Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros was born in Corfu in 1949. In 1959 she and her family settled in Germany. She took lessons in guitar, ballet, song and dance. She started singing professionally in 1965. In 1967 she represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision song contest with "L'Amour Est Bleu". In 1972 she represented Luxembourg in the same completion with the song "Après Toi" and won it.