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Michael Cacoyannis |
Michael Cacoyannis (born June 11, 1922) is a prominent Greek filmmaker best-known for his 1964 film Zorba the Greek. Much of his work is rooted in classical texts, especially those of the Greek tragedian Euripedes. Cacoyannis has been nominated for an Academy Award 5 times, a record for any Greek artist. He received Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film nominations for Zorba the Greek, and two nominations in the Foreign Language Film category for Elektra and Iphigenia.
Born in Limassol, Cyprus under the name Μιχαλις Κακογιαννις (Mikhalis Kakogiannis), as a young man, Cacoyannis was sent by his family to England to become a lawyer. However, after producing Greek-language programs for the for the BBC during World War II,Cacoyannis found an interest in film instead. He ended up at the Old Vic school, and enjoyed a brief stage career there under the name "Michael Yannis" before he began working on films. After having trouble finding a directing job in the British film industry, Cacoyannis returned to Greece, and in 1953 he made his first film, Windfall in Athens.
Cacoyannis has worked on many occasions with the Greek actress Irene Papas. In 1971, he teamed up once more with Papas to the film The Trojan Women, starting Hollywood legend Katharine Hepburn. |
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Marcos Baghdatis |
Marcos Baghdatis (Μάρκος Παγδατής in Greek) (born 17 June 1985, Limassol, Cyprus) is a Greek Cypriot professional tennis player. He was a finalist in the 2006 Australian Open. As of August 21, 2006, he is the number 8 ranked player in the world.
Baghdatis is the son of a Greek Orthodox (father) from Lebanon and a Greek Cypriot (mother). His father, Christos, immigrated to Cyprus from Lebanon, where he met his wife, Androula. His parents own a clothing store in Paramytha, a small village near Limassol. Visitors to the family home say it is a modest dwelling adorned with Greek Orthodox Christian icons. Baghdatis frequently kisses the gold crucifix hanging round his neck and crosses himself before each game. He has a younger sister, Zena, who was adopted when she was one month old, and two elder brothers, Marinos and Petros, who also played on the Davis Cup team for their country.
Baghdatis began playing tennis at age five with his father and brothers. He enjoys playing and watching football, and is a supporter of Apollon Limassol in Cyprus. He trained at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris on an Olympic Solidarity Youth Development Programme Scholarship since the age of 13. His fans chant "Marco ise trella, me tin aspri tin fanella!" (Marcos you are crazy, wearing the white shirt) in Greek to cheer him on.
On January 28, 2006, Baghdatis received an exemption from Cypriot national service so that he can concentrate on tennis. Otherwise, he would have had to serve 25 months of military service, normally mandatory for Cypriot males over 18.
Currently he is dating Camille Nevière, a French model, who is the stepdaughter of his French coach Guillaume Payre. |
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| Anna Vissi |
Anna Vissi ( Άννα Βίσση in Greek characters; born in Larnaca, Cyprus, December 20, 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer famous mainly in her home country Cyprus and Greece, with success in the United States as well.
Anna Vissi was born in the city of Larnaca (PYLA), Cyprus. She has been singing from a very early age, beginning formal musical studies at the age of six at a local conservatory. At the age of twelve she, along with her older sister Lia, entered a talent competition and won first prize. Two years later, she was the main singer at Y. Kotsonis opus Ayia Tilliria, which was also her first TV appearance. In 1973, her family moved to Athens, Greece where she was able to pursue her studies at the National Conservatory. She would eventually appear with a number of well-known Greek singers, such as George Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, and Vasilis Papakonstantinou, in the famous nightclubs of Plaka, in Athens. During this time she also studied law at the University of Athens. Her first important collaboration, alongside Georgios Dalaras, was with composer Stavros Koujioumtzis who composed two songs for Vissi, S' Agapo and Sta Chronia tis Ypomonis. She also collaborated with many important Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis (1974/1975), Georgios Hadjinassios (1974), Doros Giorgiadis (1974), Nikos Karvelas (who later became her husband; 1975) and Mihalis Terzis (1976). |
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| Michalis Konstantinou |
Michalis Konstantinou (born February 19, 1978 in Paralimni, Cyprus) is a football striker who currently plays for Olympiacos in the Greek Championship. He has also played for the Cyprus national football team, being its all-time leading scorer with 19 goals in 49 appearances.
An absolute hero at his former club Iraklis FC, Michalis Konstantinou is a powerful Cypriot striker who reportedly turned down offers from a number of leading clubs to sign for his boyhood team, Panathinaikos FC. However, he subsequently joined their city rivals Olympiacos in 2005.
He got his start in professional football playing for Cypriot side Enosis Neon Paralimni FC,for whom he scored 17 goals in 25 games in the 1996/97 season and became top goal scorer of Cypriot Championship. Picked up by Iraklis in Greece in 1997, Konstantinou proved a huge hit, his four seasons produced a total of 60 goals in 119 appearances and he also played in the UEFA Cup.
The spearhead of the Cypriot attack, he made his international debut against Albania in August 1998 and subsequently averaged almost a goal every other game in his first 35 caps. His blossoming coincided with his nation's vast improvement as a footballing force, although they failed to reach the play-offs for either the 2000 or 2004 UEFA European Championship.
In 2001, signed in a deal which took three Panathanaikos FC players to Iraklis, Konstantinou transferred to Panathinaikos for €11.3 million. It was an extraordinary move, but many believed that the young Cypriot striker was more than gifted enough to justify Panathanaikos's dramatic bid of €11.3m - the most ever paid for a Cypriot player. The added pressure did not faze Konstantinou; with Panathinaikos, he had the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions League, and he earned praise for his role in the team's performance there, especially in his first year with the club. He scored a majestic effort in the Camp Nou in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg defeat by FC Barcelona. His second season proved less stellar, injury restricting his involvement to 21 league games. The man of the match in the 2003/04 Greek Cup final after scoring twice, Konstantinou was not so prolific in the league - registering five times. In 2004/05 he had a very good season, with 15 goals, even as Panathinaikos lost the title to Olympiacos. Panathinaikos did not renew his contract and Konstantinou signed a three-year deal with the Champion & Cup Winner, Olympiacos CFP on July 14, 2005.
As an Olympiacos player he won with his team the Double for 2004/05 and 2005/06 and he completed 3 consecutive doubles in a row - the first with Panathinaikos. At the Greek Cup final in 2005/06, where Olympiacos beat AEK Athens 3-0, Konstantinou scored the Olympiacos' first goal. |
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