August 8, 1954 - Performance THEATRE LONGOS

On August 8, 1954, THEATRE LONGOS presented the play "THE RED SHIRT" "The Red Shirt" (Το κόκκινο πουκάμισο) is a play by Spyros Melas, which was first staged in 1908 by the Kyvelis theater company at the Kyvelis Theater.

Spyros Melas was a Greek journalist, writer, playwright, director, theater founder, publisher, and academic. He was one of the most prolific figures in literature, with a long career and multifaceted activity in the intellectual world of his time. However, he was the instigator who deprived Nikos Kazantzakis of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Spyros Melas, son of Ioannis Melas and Pigi Panagopoulou, was born in Nafpaktos on January 13, 1882. He spent his childhood and teenage years in various Greek cities, as his father, a judge by profession, was often transferred. The family's last residence was in Piraeus. As the only boy in the family after his father's death, Melas was forced to work to support his family. He did various jobs while trying to continue his education. With a scholarship from the municipality of Piraeus, he studied at the Ionidios Model School of Piraeus and, upon completing his studies, decided to pursue a career in the army. However, a military career did not suit him, and he soon resigned. In 1905, he enrolled in law school but did not complete his studies. At the same time, he took his first steps as a journalist at the newspaper Foni tou Pireos (Voice of Piraeus). He then went on to work with the newspapers Chronografos, Akropolis and Asty. He also collaborated with many literary and art magazines. He seemed to have found his calling in journalism, as he remained in the profession until the end of his life. He collaborated in various capacities with almost all the newspapers of his time. His last collaboration was with the newspaper Eleftheria from 1957 to 1966. He was a founding member of the ESIEA (Union of Journalists of Athens Daily Newspapers) and also ran the first school of journalism in Greece, the "School of Journalism and Public Relations of the Hellenic-American Educational Institute." As a journalist, he covered all the important events of his time, was a political analyst and a correspondent for newspapers abroad, but he remained best known for his daily chronicle, which he continued to write every day until the end of his life. His first literary work was the novel "The Mysteries of Piraeus," which was first published in serial form in the newspaper "Acropolis" in the fall of 1906. His involvement with the theater was multifaceted. He was a professor of theater history at various drama schools, a founder of theater companies and a professional director, a theater critic, a member of the National Theater, and, of course, a playwright. However, a dark spot in his life was the ease with which he changed political positions and, above all, his support for the German occupation. Starting out as a socialist in his youth, he later joined the anti-Venizelist camp, then the Venizelist camp, and finally supported the Metaxas regime. The culmination of all this was his stance during the Occupation, when in an article he called on the Greek people to cooperate sincerely and actively with the occupiers. Spyros Melas died in Athens in April 1966 from an aneurysm. He received a long list of honors, most notably the War Cross and the Grand Cross of the Order of George.