Βιογραφία / Biography

    He was born in 1927 in Athens where he lived for the early years of his life.  Son of Vassilios Krokidis from Nikolis Lefkada and Penelope ex Panayiotou from Athens. 

  After his father was ordained as a Greek – Orthodox Church Presbyter, the whole family moved in Lefkada Island where he was ordered to serve as a local priest starting from Nikolis village and then to Episkopi village on Kalamos Island. 

  The start of the World War II, the Italian and German occupation found his family at the village of Poros trying to survive during those difficult and painful years. 

  As he completed his studies in primary school, he started watching lessons at Lefkada High School at the city of Lefkada being under protection of Lefkada and Ithaca Bishop Dorotheos and staying as a guest of him at Panaghia Faneromeni Monastery in the city of Lefkada. 

  When the war was over and Greece was a free country again, the family moved back in Athens staying at their home at Aigaleo where his father was ordered to serve as a priest at  Holy Cross Church. 

  In 1947 he completes his studies at 11th Athens High School at Peristeri. 

  Being the son of a priest he was early initiated into the world of religion and Church and chants and Byzantine Music as well. After he completed his school studies he started studying and learning Byzantine Music systematically. 

  In 1949 he was called to join the Army starting to serve at Korinthos and then as a corporal of 616 Battalion at various places of Northern Greece. Being always in movement with his unit, he tried not to lose his contact with Byzantine Music chanting in churches when and where it was possible. 

  He completed his army service in 1952 and immediately after that he got hired as a chanter at St. Nicholas Church at Glyfada. 

  At the same time he started taking lessons of Byzantine music by famous teacher Theodore Chatzitheodorou at Hellenic Conservatory of Music and Arts. He got his Degree in Byzantine Music as a Chanter on July 1954.    He started working doing a variety of jobs such as documents distributor, factory worker and goldsmith and in parallel he started taking lessons at Rizareios Ecclesiastic School. He graduated from there in 1957. 

  He has already started his author work on Byzantine Music. 

  In 1963 he got married to Pantelia Nikiforaki from Kostos, Paros and they gave birth to two daughters, Penelope and Vassiliki. 

  He started preparing himself and finally made a decision with his wife’s full agreement  to become a Greek – Orthodox Church Priest following his father’s steps. 

  He ordained as a Deacon on the 6th of August, 1968 and on the 14th  of September same year he ordained as a Presbyter. He immediately  got hired as a Priest in Charge at St. Spiridon Church of Nea Ionia remaining at this position for the next two years. 

  In 1970 he was transferred as a Priest in Charge at St. Demetrios Church in Kato Patissia. He took part in several voluntary missions at Serres and Lesvos Island offering his services to secluded places without priests for the holy  days of Christmas and Easter. 

  On the eve of the 1973 New Year he was placed as a Priest in Charge at Assumption of Mary Church at Heraklion Attikis where he stayed serving for more than 15 years. 

  In 1974 he achieved his admission  to the Seminary Education Department of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. After three years of studies, he got his Diploma from there in 1977. 

  In the summer of 1977 he travelled as a pilgrim to Jerusalem and Holy Land. 

  He continued his studies at Theological Seminary of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and got his Degree in Theology in 1980. 

  He has already started being known about his excellent voice and his author’s work on Byzantine Hymns and Music and as a result of that he made a lot of contacts and meetings with Byzantine Music teachers, famous chanters and studiers. When a team of Deutsche Grammophone  sound technicians and specialists travelled to Greece looking for ecclesiastical hymns and Byzantine Music samples for recordings, they met him and took samples of his voice recordings. An invitation came to him to visit Germany for a serie of recordings but his professional and family liabilities didn’t allow him to make that journey. 

  In 1988 he completed his service at Assumption of Mary Church and was transferred at St. Euphemia Church at Nea Chalkidona serving as a Priest in Charge under the subsequent Bishop of Nea Ionia and Philadelphia Konstantinos. He remained there until his retirement in 2001. 

  During his carrier as well as after his retirement he never stopped studying and searching Byzantine Music and its history, transcribing, adapting and making his own compositions which he was recording with his excellent voice. A lot of Byzantine Music students learned from him earning his generosity. 

  He passed away on December 21, 2011 after bravely fighting against cancer …