Shadow puppeteer (1924 – 2009)
The most prominent and influential shadowplayer in Greece, a man who gave up his architectural studies to dedicate himself to the art of Karagiozis, recognized as the hero of children to some and the “Father of Karagiozis” to others. As a young enthusiast and painter, Spatharis quickly followed his father’s footsteps, who was a prominent shadow puppeteer himself, and became an original animator of the folk hero Karagiozis, whom he uplifted, exalted and popularized as a form of art worldwide.
From 1942 to 1950 Spatharis travelled around Greece performing in various theatres and festivals. His debut outside of Greece is traced as far back as 1953 when he performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York, Cuba and Canada. In 1954 he performed at the World Conference and Festival of Shadow Theatre in Brussels and in 1959 at the International Festival of Shadow Theatre in Paris. In 1962 he published his first records of Karagiozis for Columbia Company while in 1966 Spatharis began broadcasting his performances in the Peiramatikos Stathmos Tileorasis channel, which continued until 1992. He continued his work by performing in the Festival of Eastern Countries in Poland, London, Germany and Denmark while simultaneously exhibiting his shadow figures. Moreover, he toured the Netherlands, Cyprus, France, Sweden, Italy and Russia participating in multiple international shadow theatre festivals. Numerous awards followed.
Spatharis was a man of many hobbies; he acted, he sang, he wrote plays, books and painted. He collaborated with various notable Greek artists of the 20th century during his career, namely with Manos Hadjidakis, Dionysis Savvopoulos, Melina Merkouri, Thanasis Veggos and Manos Xarchakos. He wrote the script for numerous plays such as “Karagiozis the Dictator”, “Athanasios Diakos”, “Our Great Circus” and “Alexander”, the latter which was an immense success in Greece, while in some others he acted himself. Furthermore, he appeared in many films and TV commercials where he voiced Karagiozis.
By the end of the 20th century Spatharis had made Karagiozis into a worldwide spectacle adored by children and adults alike. He was invited to the Universities of London, Oxford and Cambridge as a lecturer on the art of Karagiozis. He was also invited to teach the art of shadow theatre in France. He founded the School of Shadow Theatre in Denmark while the Municipality of Amarousion in Athens founded the Spathareion Museum of Shadow Theatre in his memory exhibiting his works in an effort to teach the youth what Karagiozis represents in modern Greece’s history.
In his later years, Eugenios Spatharis, “The Master” as he came to be known became highly respected among the artistic and even the literary community, earning the admiration of Angelos Sikelianos. In 2002 the Cultural Organization of Lemessos in Cyprus organized a theatrical play entitled “Spatharis the Greek” featuring himself as the protagonist in his honour. In 2007 he was awarded a golden plaque by the Ministry of Culture for his contributions in Greek folk tradition and Greek civilization, spanning a total of 65 years of love, dedication and creativity.
Bibliography
- Spathareio Museum of Shadow Theatre Municipality of Maroussi. Eugenios Spatharis the Shadowplayer. Karagiozismuseum.gr. August 18, 2016. Web.
- ”Γεννήθηκε ο Ευγένιος Σπαθάρης, που παράτησε την αρχιτεκτονική για χάρη του Καραγκιόζη”. mixanitouxronou.gr. 29 Sep. 2015. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.
- Ευγένιος Σπάθαρης: Ο γνήσιος τροβαδούρος της λαϊκής παράδοσης. Tvxs.gr. August 18, 2016. Web.