Michel Elefteriades

Michel Elefteriades
Michel Elefteriades
Background information
Birth name	Michel Elefteriades
Born	June 22, 1970 (1970-06-22) (age 41)
Origin	Beirut, Lebanon
Genres	World music
Occupations	Politician Producer Composer Arranger
Labels	elef.Records
Associated acts	Galvez Tony Hanna Hanine Y Son Cubano Chehade Brothers Wadih El Safi José Fernandez Demis Roussos Aleph Tania Saleh Nahawand Bilal, the Gipsy Prince The Oriental Roots Orchestra The National Orchestra of Nowheristan

Michel Elefteriades (Μιχαήλ Ελευθεριάδης in Greek) (born 22 June 1970) is a Greek-Lebanese politician, artist, producer and businessman. He is noted in the Arab world for his eclectic style, as well as his unorthodox beliefs and opinions, which have generated controversy and ignited passionate responses from his supporters and detractors alike.

Education and background

With a Lebanese mother and a father of Byzantine Greek descent (who is the grandnephew of Saint Chrysostomos Kalafatis,^[1] Metropolitan of Smyrna), the Lebanese born Elefteriades speaks six languages and is well traveled. He studied Fine Arts and Advertising in the city of Nantes, France, and holds a Masters Degree in Graphic Design and Communication Arts from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA).

Music and show business career

Elefteriades is an author and composer of more than 120 songs for such European and Arab artists as: Tony Hanna, Demis Roussos, Jean Jacques Lafon, Nahawanad, Hanine y son cubano, El Chato, Galvez, Jose Fernandez, as well as a collective work featuring Saber el Ruba’i, Moen Shraif, Wadih El Safi, and Mohamad el Mazem. Elefteriades is considered an Arab pioneer of World Music fusion.

As a music producer and song arranger, some of his creations are considered successful musical experiments in the Arab world.^[2] A few of these are:

• Hanine Y Son Cubano.^[3]
• Wadih El Safi in duo with Jose Fernandez.^[4]
• Demis Roussos & the Oriental Roots Orchestra.^[5]
• Tony Hanna & the Yugoslavian Gipsy Brass Band.^[6]

In 1999, Elefteriades founded the “Mediterraneo Byblos International Festival”, and was its director from 1999 to 2003. He wrote, composed and directed the 2004 “The Journey of Four Songs”,^[7] a musical for the Baalbeck International Festival.

He has directed a number of music videos, for such artists as Galvez,^[8] Demis Roussos,^[9] Tony Hanna,^[10] The Chehade Brothers,^[11] Hanine Y Son Cubano,^[12] Nahawand, Tania Saleh, José Fernandez, Abdel Karim Chaar, Yusra, Rom Bakhtale, Tino Favazza^[13]. Elefteriades has also directed documentaries about Tony Hanna and on the life of Nahawand.

In 2003, Elefteriades founded Beirut’s “Music Hall”, an 800-seat theater venue specializing in a unique concept that made it a successful night-clubbing destination in the Middle East.^[14]

Elefteriades is founder and co-owner of “Elef.Records”, a “Warner Music” label^[15] which has produced the following albums:

• Tony Hanna & the Yugoslavian Gipsy Brass Band
• Tony Hanna & the National Orchestra of Nowheristan
• Mounir El Khawli - The Dragon of Tarab
• Hanine Y Son Cubano – Arabo-Cuban and 10908
• Jose Fernandez – Makhlouta
• Wadih El Safi & Jose Fernandez
• Tania Saleh
• The Chehade Brothers – A Bridge Over the Mediterranean^[16]
• Jose Gálvez & the National Orchestra of Nowheristan
• Lautaris
• Nahawand.^[17]
• L’Empereur chante - self-produced

Fine arts

As a painter, his works have been presented at several collective exhibitions in France, Germany and Lebanon. In 1995, he presented The Wailing Wall, a 10x2 meters piece of art, at a special edition of the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs that took place in the Beirut Central District (instead of its customary location at Paris’ Grand Palais). This showing produced such controversy that it required special protection. Afterward, Elefteriades decided to drop painting completely.

Writing

Elefteriades is the author of two novels, one of which was banned in the Arab world. Starting in 1994, he was editor for over a year of a weekly review on “Crazy Thoughts and Ideas” in An-Nahar, Lebanon’s leading newspaper.

Politics and resistance

Elefteriades has engaged in political activism from the age of 15. He was an extreme left-wing militant growing up in the hostile political environment of east Beirut, which was under the control of right-wing Christian militias during the Lebanese civil war. Later, Elefteriades committed himself to the political movement of then Prime Minister, General Michel Aoun (1989).

The M.U.R.

An M.U.R. poster

On October 13, 1990, Syrian forces launched a massive attack on the Lebanese army; defeated General Aoun; and occupied what still remained of Lebanon’s free territory. Elefteriades initially fled to France. In 1991, he came back to Lebanon and founded the M.U.R. (Unified Movements of the Resistance), which he led until 1994. The M.U.R. was a clandestine, armed group dedicated to fighting Lebanon's occupation by foreign armies. Elefteriades was often involved in organizing general strikes designed to paralyze the country. The M.U.R. was considered an illegal organization^[18] and its activities were implemented secretively. Its main principles and objectives were:

• Freeing the Lebanese territory from all foreign military presence
• Rejecting feudalism and political sectarianism in order to establish a secular democracy
• Social justice
• Edifying a modern, independent and sovereign state within Lebanon’s internationally recognized boundaries
• Implementing the Human Rights Charter
• Fighting treason and corruption

During this period, Elefteriades was the intended victim of two unsuccessful assassination attempts. The first one destroyed his car with a booby-trap; the second attempt targeted him through an armed ambush.^[19][20] He left Lebanon to live in France and Cuba from 1994 until 1997.^[21]

Elefteriades was active in Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution and co-organized, in April 2005, the National Unity Festival’s mega-concert that took place in downtown Beirut celebrating “Independence 05”. In May of the same year, he co-organized the celebration of the return to Lebanon -after 15 years of exile- of Michel Aoun.

Recent activism

On October 8, 2007, during a press conference held in one of his shuttered Beirut restaurants (shut down on the date which commemorated Che Guevara's capture 40 years earlier), Elefteriades launched a public campaign called "We Won’t Pay Lebanon’s Odious Debts".^[22] The campaign was meant to exercise pressure on the state to take action on Lebanon’s unprecedented public debt of about 40 billion US Dollars, which, at the time of the press conference, was the highest debt to GDP ratio in the world.^[23] The main objective of the campaign was to raise awareness inside and outside of the country about the nature of Lebanon's loans with the end goal of abolishing its debt. (This odious debt was incurred between 1993 and 2005, while Lebanon was under foreign [Syrian] occupation.) As a result of his activities, the Association of Banks in Lebanon called for the prosecution of Elefteriades, viewing him as a threat to Lebanon's financial stability.^[24]

Social commitments

In spring 2005, Elefteriades co-organized a concert in Beirut, presenting the biggest names of Arab music: Nancy Ajram, Wadih El Safi, Myriam Fares, Ramy Ayach, Marwan Khoury, Amal Hijazi The proceeds of the event were entirely forwarded, through the United Nations, to the South East Asia Tsunami victims.^[25] That same year he organized a free concert by the National Orchestra of Nowheristan at the UNESCO Palace, in collaboration with the United Nations, to celebrate the International Day of Peace.^[26]

In 2006, he was a founding member of "Pan-Arab Cultural Icons/WAYYAK", a pan-Arab NGO whose primary mission is to build bridges with disadvantaged Arab neighborhoods through the exposure to Arab celebrities^[27]

Gypsy passion

Elefteriades has a passion for the ethnic communities of the world. As a tziganologist^[28] who wrote a study about Arab Gypsies published by Charles University in Prague, he has identified closely to the Roma people (Gypsies). He studied their language and has gained the trust of the Arab Gypsy communities. He has worked on establishing contacts with Roma activists from around the world and launched the career of Bilal, the Gipsy Prince,^[29] the only notable Dom singer.

Nowheristan promotion

Emperor Michel I of Nowheristan

Elefteriades envisioned a new social, philosophical, political and cultural approach in his 'founding' of a new nation he named “Nowheristan”, which is dedicated to justice, liberation, and equality.^[30] The proclamation of the "Great Empire of Nowheristan" received the support of the United Nations and the Lebanese Minister of Culture.^[31][32][33] Numerous intellectuals have embraced the concept of Nowheristan, with thousands from around the world having applied for citizenship.^[34]

Elefteriades', with his self-styled title, "His Imperial Highness Michel I of Nowheristan", continues to promote his creation with articles, interviews and reports in numerous international media, including: CNN,^[35] BBC, France 3 Méditerranée,^[36] France 24,^[37] TV5, TVE2,^[38] Al-Jazeera,^[39] Los Angeles Times,^[40] Der Spiegel,^[41] La Vanguardia,^[42] Paris-Match, L'Orient Le Jour, Daily Star, Hurriyet,^[43] Al-Ahram,^[44] Asharq Al-Awsat.^[45]

References

1. ^ Orthodox Wiki article
2. ^ Report on Al Jazeera (English , Report on Al Jazeera (English)
3. ^ (Wikipedia article in french) , report on Jazeera , Article on Now Lebanon , Article in Time Out Beirut , Article in Asharq Al-Awsat (Arabic)
4. ^ Wadih El Safi , Future TV show , Article on Sawt Beirut (Arabic) , National Geographic World Music
5. ^ The Beast video , A biography , Performance at Byblos Mediterraneo Festival , A French biography
6. ^ Report on Jazeera , National Geographic World Music , World Music Expo , Audio interview of producer Elefteriades about Tony Hanna (French) , Article in Al Mustaqbal (Arabic)
7. ^ Baalbeck International Festival Highlights (2004) , Article in Al-Mustaqbal (Arabic)
8. ^ Galvez - "Tengo" Video
9. ^ GDemis Roussos - "The Beast" Video
10. ^ Tony Hanna - "Dall'ouna" Video
11. ^ The Chehade Brothers - "Sitti" Video
12. ^ Hanine Y Son Cubano - "Beirut-Havana" Video
13. ^ Tino Favazza - "Aatini El Nay Wa Ghanni" Video , Article in Al-Akhbar (Arabic) , Article in Time Out Beirut , Beiorut Nightlife
14. ^ Documentary on Al Jazeera (English)
15. ^ Asharq Al-Awsat article (Arabic)
16. ^ BBC Radio 3 Awards
17. ^ Elefrecords
18. ^ UNCHR/Swiss Federal Office for Refugees Reports/Country information/Paragraph 15.2.3 (French)
19. ^ Al-Ahram English article
20. ^ [1]
21. ^ Lebanon News - tayyar.org
22. ^ L'Orient-Le-Jour article - October 9, 2007 (French)
23. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Rank Order - Public debt
24. ^ Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar article (in Arabic)
25. ^ Article about the concert for the Tsunami victims
26. ^ Article in the Daily Star September 24, 2005
27. ^ Wayyak website
28. ^ Grandiloquent Dictionary Third Edition, ©2006, C.S. Bird and Associates
29. ^ Bilal's page at www.elefrecords.com
30. ^ [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8]
31. ^ Los Angeles Times article - January 01, 2008
32. ^ Daily Star article - September 24, 2005
33. ^ Daily Star article - September 24, 2005
34. ^ Asharq Al-Awsat article - February 14, 2010 (Arabic)
35. ^ Rush transcript of CNN's Your World Today, aired November 20, 2006 - 12:00 ET
36. ^ Michel Elefteriades in "La Méditerranée au cœur" on France 3 Méditerranée(French)
37. ^ Michel Elefteriades in "Une semaine au Moyen-Orient" on France 24 (French)
38. ^ Michel Elefteriades on TVE 2 (Spanish)
39. ^ Michel Elefteriades on Al-Jazeera (English)
40. ^ L.A. Times article
41. ^ Der Spiegel article (German)
42. ^ La Vanguardia article (Spanish)
43. ^ Hurriyet article (Turkish)
44. ^ Al-Ahram article (English)
45. ^ Asharq Al-Awsat article (Arabic)

External links

• Elef Records
• The Great Empire of Nowheristan

Persondata
Name	Elefteriades, Michel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 22, 1970
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death