Thanassis Skordalos (Θανάσης Σκορδαλός 10 December 1920 - 23 April 1998) was a Greek lyra (Greek: λύρα, lýra) player from Crete. The Cretan lyra (Greek: Κρητική λύρα) is a pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece. The Cretan lyra is considered to be the most popular surviving form of the medieval Byzantine lyra, an ancestor of most European bowed instruments. Skordalos was born in the village Spili, today the municipality of Lampi, in Rethimnon, Crete. He finished grammar school in Spili. It was about the same time that he first laid his eyes on the Lyra. He gave his first performance in front of the Cretans in Athens - at the historical music hall “Vizantio” in Omonoia, Athens. His first recording was in 1946 with the famous “Spiliano Sirto” where Γιάννης Μαρκογιαννάκης (Giannis Markogiannakis) was playing the lute. In 1947 when he was 27 years old, he was positioned at the Security Services of the National Bank of Greece from where he later on retired. During his long career, Skordalos performed in most of the countries where one can find Cretan immigrants like the USA, Australia, Canada and Africa. He married Hrisoula Papadaki from Rethimnon and together they had two sons and two daughters. Thanassis Skordalos along with Kostas Moundakis (Κώστας Μουντάκης) are considered those lyra players who offered the most to Cretan music. Skordalos served Cretan music for 60 years and died on 23 April 1998 at the age of 78. He was and will remain one of the best artists in the Cretan music history with numerous and unique recordings. He is an inspiration for those who follow and his legacy will continue to motivate the next generations of artists. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Thanasis+Skordalos">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.