Theodorakis died in September 2021, and the Greek state's decision to commemorate him in gold within four years of his death is unusually swift for a collector coinage program — reflecting both the political consensus around his cultural standing and the long-running effort to position Greek numismatic issues around figures of international name recognition. His music was banned under the military junta from 1967 to 1974, during which he was imprisoned, then exiled, with his works criminalized even in performance.
Theodorakis died in September 2021, and the Greek state's decision to commemorate him in gold within four years of his death is unusually swift for a collector coinage program — reflecting both the political consensus around his cultural standing and the long-running effort to position Greek numismatic issues around figures of international name recognition. His music was banned under the military junta from 1967 to 1974, during which he was imprisoned, then exiled, with his works criminalized even in performance.