Samaras Spiros

Spyros Samaras ( Σπύρος Σαμάρας 1861-25 March 1917) was a Greek composer born in Corfu. His most famous work is the Olympic Anthem, the words of which were contributed by Kostis Palamas.
The Anthem was first performed during the opening ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympic Games. It was declared the official anthem of the Olympic movement by the International Olympic Committee in 1958 and has been used at every Olympic opening ceremony since the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Nonetheless, beyond this populistic image Samaras, who apart from Greece was educated also in Paris (Leo Delibes composition class), was a well known figure in the Italian musical theatres of late 'ottocento' and actually it was his career as opera composer that contributed to the commission of the Olympic Anthem's composition in 1895.
Before that year, Samaras, among others, had already presented two of his most famous operas, Flora Mirabilis (1886) and La martire (1894), the latter based on a libreto by Luigi Illica with many naturalistic elements, which gave space to Samaras musical personality for an equal treatment.