15 Facts About Anestis Delias

Anestis Delias was a Greek bouzouki player, composer and singer of rebetiko.

Anestis Delias became an accomplished player of the bouzouki and joined with other musicians in the refugee suburbs of Athens and Piraeus, creating music in the 1930s that exemplifies the genre known as Piraeus rebetiko.

Anestis Delias played on early rebetiko recordings, including songs of his own composition released under his name.

Anestis Delias became addicted to heroin and died of starvation, aggravated by his drug dependency, during the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Anestis Delias was born Anastasios Delios in about 1912 in Smyrna, on the Aegean coast of Anatolia.

Anestis Delias's father, Panagiotis Delios, was a shoemaker by profession and was a well-known professional musician in Asia Minor.

Anestis Delias's father had remained in Smryna and was killed that year during the destruction and atrocities that occurred when the Turkish forces captured the city.

Anestis Delias began to release songs under his own name in 1935; his first release was "The harem in the hamam" backed with "The jacket", released on the Greek division of the Columbia label.

Anestis Delias continued to play as a studio musician on the recordings of others during this period.

The date of Anestis Delias' death has been the subject of speculation.

However, further evidence, published in 2007, has revealed that Anestis Delias died during 1944.

In early February 1944 Anestis Delias was admitted to the Dromokaiteion Psychiatric Hospital, in the suburb of Haidari, with Pagioumtzis listed as his guardian on the admission form.

Markos Vamvakaris' comment that Anestis Delias was "an angel thrown in the garbage" is often quoted.

Anestis Delias was a figure largely forgotten to history in the decades after his death, during a period when the 'Greekness' of 1930s rebetika was being questioned, with commentators challenging the genre's contribution to modern Greek culture and identity because of its low-class origins and distinct Oriental elements and influences.

The sources for determining the details of Anestis Delias' life are few.