Farewell to Marinella through 2 rare photographs from the Museum’s collection

Marinella, one of the greatest voices in Greek music, passed away on Saturday, March 28.

Kyriaki (Kiki) Papadopoulou, as was her real name, was born on May 19, 1938, in Thessaloniki and began her artistic career as an actress in Mary Lawrence’s theater troupe. When the troupe’s singer fell ill one day, the young Marinella was called upon to replace her, impressing the audience and paving the way for her subsequent brilliant career.

In 1956, she performed at the “Panorama” club in Thessaloniki, having adopted the stage name “Marinella,” and in 1957 she met Stelios Kazantzidis, who was impressed by her voice and asked her to collaborate with him. Their voices blended harmoniously, and their duet enjoyed enormous success both in Greece and abroad. They married in 1964, but Kazantzidis’s retirement from singing and Marinella’s differing artistic aspirations led to their separation in 1966, marking the beginning of her solo career.

In the early stages of her solo career, she collaborated with prominent artists such as Giorgos Katsaros, Giorgos Zambetas, Giannis Markopoulos, Manos Loizos, and Mimis Plessas. The latter’s song “Anoixe Petra” (1968) from the musical “Gorgones kai Magkes,” marked a turning point, establishing her as a leading performer.

For more than five decades, Marinella maintained a continuous and dynamic presence on the music scene, with countless performances and collaborations. A testament to her artistic consistency is the fact that for approximately 30 consecutive years she released one album a year, confirming her steady position at the top.

Among the highlights of her career were her participation in the 1973 Midem in Cannes with songs by Stavros Xarchakos and her representation of Greece at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, marking the country’s first appearance in the competition.

During that period, her personal life also drew public attention when she had her daughter, Tzortina Serpieris, out of wedlock, a fact that provoked reactions given the conservative attitudes of the time; shortly thereafter, in November 1973, she married Tolis Voskopoulos, with whom, according to reports at the time, she had fallen head over heels in love a month earlier. Their marriage lasted until 1981.

On September 25, 2024, during her performance at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, she collapsed on stage and never recovered. Her words in response to a question about whether she had had her fill of the stage seem prophetic today: “No, you never get enough. You always leave hungry. That’s why I hope to stay on stage and leave from there…”

Photos:

1. Marinella with Tolis Voskopoulos during a celebration on November 4, 1973, one day before their wedding. (© PictureGreece/Uprise – Memory Archives, Vasilis Karageorgos)
2. Marinella can be seen to the right of Stelios Kazantzidis, when they were an inseparable duo during the early years of her career. (Floros Brothers Archive – Nikos L. Floros)