Eleni Tzoka (born April 27, 1956 in Bielawa

Bielawa

Bielawa is a town in south-western Poland with 31,988 inhabitants . It is situated in Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship ; previously it has been a part of the Wałbrzych Voivodeship ....

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

) is a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 female singer of Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 descent.

Biography

Tzoka was born to a Greek family which emigrated to Poland in the 1950s. At an early age, she was familiarized with music by her parents and numerous siblings (she was the ninth child) who would constantly play or sing. She first sang in public when she attended elementary school. At that time she belonged to a children's group Niezapominajki ("Forget-me-nots"). Several years later she became a vocalist in Ballada, a group that was formed in her secondary school.

Tzoka started her professional career in 1975

1975 in music

-January–April:*January 2 - New York City U.S. District Court Judge Richard Owen rules that former Beatle John Lennon and his lawyers can have access to Department of Immigration files pertaining to his deportation case....

 when she joined Prometheus, a newly founded music band that was mainly active in Sopot

Sopot

Sopot is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000....

 in northern Poland. On July 20 of the same year, she debuted at a concert in Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

.

Eleni, as she is commonly referred to in Poland, released her first solo album, Ty jak niebo, ja – jak obłok, in 1980 (although she had recorded an LP album

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

 with Prometheus earlier) titled Po słonecznej stronie życia ("On the sunny side of life'", 1977

1977 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....

). After the release of her solo album, she became popular. She began giving concerts all over Poland as well as abroad. Among many other countries, she visited Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

; France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

; Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

; Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

; and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, where she sang for the Polish diaspora.

Tzoka participated in the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole

National Festival of Polish Song in Opole

National Festival of Polish Song in Opole is a yearly music festival in Opole, Poland. Together with Sopot Festival it is the most important music festival in Poland. Opole Festival is meant as a summary of yearly season of achievements of Polish song writers and performers...

 four times: in 1984, 1990, 1991 and 1993. She is married to Fotis Tzokas, the brother of Kostas Tzokas, who was the founder of Prometheus. Fotis Tzokas is currently her personal manager and composes some of her songs.

In 1994, Tzoka's 17-year-old daughter, Afrodyta, was murdered by her own boyfriend, Piotr. Tzoka openly forgave the killer of her only child. It was reported that when she was informed about her daughter's death, she immediately phoned the mother of Afrodyta's boyfriend and told her without anger that they had "lost their children". She was honoured for that act of mercy in 1999 with the Saint Rita of Cascia

Rita of Cascia

Saint Rita of Cascia is an Italian Augustinian saint.-Early life:St. Rita was born at Roccaporena near Spoleto, Umbria, Italy....

 prize, which is awarded yearly to women of different religious beliefs who have overcome a tragic event in their lives.

Tzoka has been awarded many other prizes. In 2002, she was given the statuette of Złota Muza Polskich Nagrań from a Polish state music company Polskie Nagrania. Apart from music-related awards, she was also honoured (2003) with the Złote Serce (Heart of Gold) prize from the Saint Stanisław Kostka Foundation for the Disabled Children and Youth in Katowice

Katowice

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...

 for her "generosity, kindness, understanding, co-operativeness, namely everything that makes the realization of laudable aims for the environment of disabled children and youth possible". In 2004, she was given the Medal of Saint Brother Albert for her commitment to charity related with the help for the people living with AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 as well as the disabled. The official justification for the prize included her meetings with the youth and the charity concerts given in social assistance centres and prisons. Tzoka is also the holder of a prestigious title of the Knight of the Order of Smile

Order of Smile

The Order of the Smile is an international award given by children, to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children.-History:...

.

Tzoka is the author of a book Nic miłości nie pokona (Nothing will defeat love) published in 2006. This illustrated album contains an interview given to a Pauline

The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit

The Pauline Fathers a Hungarian order of the Roman Catholic Church, are more formally known as The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit .This name is derived from the hermit Saint Paul of Thebes , canonized in 491 by Pope Gelasius I...

 monk, fr. Robert Łukaszuk, in which she talks about her life, human sufferings, love, the meaning of charity, as well as her artistic experiences.

Style of music

Prometheus, the band Tzoka has belonged to since 1975, typically played traditional Greek music. Their shows included Greek dances

Greek dances

Greek dance is a very old tradition, being referred to by authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch and Lucian. There are different styles and interpretations from all of the islands and surrounding mainland areas. Each region formed its own choreography and style to fit in with their own ways...

, which were very popular among the audience. Tzoka's music is characterized by optimism

Optimism

The Oxford English Dictionary defines optimism as having "hopefulness and confidence about the future or successful outcome of something; a tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view." The word is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best." Being optimistic, in the typical sense...

and melodiousness.

Discography

• Po słonecznej stronie życia (1978)
• S'apago – moja miłość (1979)
• Buzuki disco (1980)
• Ty – jak niebo, ja – jak obłok (1980)
• Lovers (1982)
• Grecja raz jeszcze (1983)
• Morze snu (1984)
• Muzyka twoje imię ma (1985)
• Eleni... 10 (1986)
• Kolędy polskie śpiewa Eleni (1986)
• Miłość jak wino (1987)

• Wakacyjny flirt (1990)
• Sound from Greece (1990)
• 24 golden greats (1991)
• Złote przeboje (1992)
• Przystań pod gwiazdami (1992)
• W rytmie Zorby (1995)
• Nic miłości nie pokona (1996)
• Kolędy polskie śpiewa Eleni vol. 2 (1998)
• Za wszystkie noce – złota kolekcja (1999)
• Moje credo (1999)
• Coś z Odysa (2001)