Dimitrios Semsis

Dimitrios Semsis
Dimitrios Semsis
Background information
Birth name	Δημήτριος Κουκουδέας Dimítrios Koukoudéas
Also known as	Dimitrios Salonikios
Born	27 March 1883 Strumica, Ottoman Empire (present day Republic of Macedonia)
Died	13 January 1950(1950-01-13) (aged 66) Athens, Greece
Genres	Greek music, rebetiko
Occupation(s)	singer-songwriter, violinist
Instruments	vocals, violin
Years active	1899-1950
Associated acts	Smyrna Trio

Dimitrios Semsis or "Dimitrios Salonikios" (Greek: Δημήτρης Σέμσης; 27 March 1883 – 13 January 1950) was a Greek violinist born Dimitrios Koukoudeas (Δημήτριος Κουκουδέας) in Strumica, in the Salonica Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Republic of Macedonia).

At the end of 19th century, he joined the band of a circus, which was traveling all over the Balkans. In 1908 married his first wife Sonhoula Bochor Hanne and become his daughter Enriquette, cousin of Eskenazi Rosa, in the year about 1910. Later, he joined other traveling bands and played in several places such as Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Sudan and elsewhere. After the end of the World War I, as Strumica remained in the kingdom of Serbia, Dimitrios Semsis' family moved to Thessaloniki (1919). In 1923 he married Dimitra Kanoula and had four children. At the beginning of 1927 he moved to Athens. By that time he took the nickname "Salonikios", probably because some agents from recording companies thought that his origin was from Thessaloniki. He is the first instrument player that his name is written on the disc labels. At the end of the 1920s, Dimitrios Semsis was Recording Director of HMV and Columbia. He participated in hundreds of recordings of folk, rebetic and smyrnaic songs between 1924 and 1931. He presented his first songs in 1928 and became the Director of Arts of His Master's Voice, in 1931 until his death. He composed over 100 songs.

In the 1930s, Dimitrios was recording with Roza Eskenazi, with great successes. He often was accompanying her to the taverns with Tompoulis, Lampros Savvaidis and Lampros Leonaridis. His compositions were being recorded by the greatest artists of that time, such as Rita Ampatzi, Stelios Perpiniadis and Stratos Pagioumtzis. He composed rebetic, folk, smyrnaic and amane songs.