Iannis Xenakis in his studio in Paris, c. 1970Iannis Xenakis (also spelt as Yannis Xenakis) (: Γιάννης (Ιάννης) Ξενάκης; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Greek-French composer, architect, performance director and engineer. After 1947, he fled Greece, becoming a naturalized. He is considered an important post- composer whose works helped revolutionize.

• Dee Xenakis
• Iannis Xenakis Electro Acoustic Music

Xenakis pioneered the use of mathematical models in music such as applications of, and and was also an important influence on the development of. Contents.Life 1922–47: Early years Xenakis was born in,.

He was the eldest son of Klearchos Xenakis, a Greek businessman from, and Fotini Pavlou from. His parents were both interested in music, and it was Fotini who introduced the young Xenakis to music. Her early death, when Xenakis was five years old, was a traumatic experience that, in his own words, 'deeply scarred' the future composer.

He was subsequently educated by a series of, and then, in 1932, sent to a on the Aegean island of, Greece. He sang in the school's boys' choir, where the repertoire included works by, and 's, which Xenakis memorized in its entirety. It was also at the Spetsai school that Xenakis studied and, and became enamoured with Greek traditional and sacred music.In 1938, after graduating from the Spetses school, Xenakis moved to to prepare for entrance exams at the. Although he intended to study architecture and engineering, he also took lessons in and with. In 1940 he successfully passed the exams, but his studies were cut short by the, which began with the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940. Although Greece eventually won the war, it was not long before the German army joined the Italians in the, in April 1941. This led to the, which lasted until late 1944, when the Allies began their drive across Europe, forcing the Axis forces to withdraw.

Xenakis joined the early during the war, participating in mass protests and demonstrations, and later becoming part of armed resistance—this last step was a painful experience Xenakis refused to discuss until much later in life. After the Axis forces left, Churchill ordered that British forces step in to help restore the Greek monarchy; they were opposed by the, and the country plunged into a.

Dee Xenakis

In December 1944, during the period of 's, Xenakis (who was by then a member of the communist students' company of the left-wing Lord Byron faction of ) became involved in street fighting against British tanks. He was wounded and facially disfigured when shrapnel from a tank blast hit his cheek and left eye, which was blinded; that Xenakis survived the injury has been described as a miracle.The Technical University operated intermittently during these years. Despite this, and Xenakis's other activities, he was able to graduate in 1947, with a degree in civil engineering. Xenakis was then conscripted into the national armed forces. Around 1947 the Greek government began arresting former resistance members that were left-wing oriented and were sent to prison.

Xenakis, fearing for his life, went into hiding. With the help of his father and others he fled Greece through Italy. On 11 November 1947 he arrived in Paris. In a late interview, Xenakis admitted to feeling tremendous guilt at leaving his country, and that guilt was one of the sources of his later devotion to music:For years I was tormented by guilt at having left the country for which I'd fought. I left my friends—some were in prison, others were dead, some managed to escape. I felt I was in debt to them and that I had to repay that debt.

Iannis Xenakis Electro Acoustic Music

And I felt I had a mission. I had to do something important to regain the right to live. It wasn't just a question of music—it was something much more significant.In the meantime, in Greece he was sentenced to death by the right-wing administration. The sentence was commuted to ten years' imprisonment in 1951, and only lifted some 23 years later, after the fall of in 1974. 1947–59: Architecture and music.