In an extraordinarily brave and profoundly human way, Dionysis Savvopoulos chose to share, for the first time, his battle with cancer over the past few years. Although his serious health ordeal began in mid-2020, he chose to continue his artistic activities as usual, without making any public mention of the fight he was waging for his life.

Now, nearly five years later, he shares with the world through the pages of his autobiography titled “Why the Years Flow Aimlessly”, recently released by Patakis Publications, the events, thoughts, and emotions of that difficult period, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cover of Dionysis Savvopoulos’s autobiography

He opens his heart wide, recounting his story with absolute calm and composure, without tearful sentimentality. Using his unique storytelling style, which has always been magical and captivating to his audience, he narrates his confrontation with cancer—from the moment of diagnosis and the treatments he underwent to contracting COVID-19, which further complicated matters.

Most importantly, through this deeply personal confession, Savvopoulos reveals—for the first time to such an extent—with remarkable courage, the vulnerable and fragile side of himself, emphasizing that, when faced with illness, we are all equal. At the same time, he conveys a precious message of hope and strength to all those battling cancer. A message that could be summarized in the title he chose for an exhibition he prepared in 2022 to commemorate the centennial of the Asia Minor Catastrophe: “Rise, My Soul!”

It was sometime in late March 2020, during the first COVID-19 lockdown, shortly after he had completed his successful live performances with Manolis Mitsias at Alsos, when he received the diagnosis:
“Since I had some time on my hands, I went to see the doctors because I’d been feeling some discomfort. Tests revealed lung cancer. Just like that? Not exactly. I’d been coughing on and off for quite a while, having smoked for over fifty years. I’m telling you this so you can be mindful, take care of yourselves, and if—God forbid—it happens to you, don’t be afraid. Face it head-on, and trust in God.

They removed half a lung, and then I went through some treatments, which, as you can imagine, have their side effects. Mainly fatigue. A sense of overwhelming weakness,” he admits.

However, the artistic challenges and his inner strength, which urged him to live his post-diagnosis life as normally as possible, tackling obstacles one by one as they arose, kept him standing and active. Drawing strength from the love and support of his family and his unquenchable passion for creativity, he took on one project after another. “I pushed aside the shadow of illness,” he poetically describes in his book.

Dionysis Savvopoulos with his wife Aspa celebrating his 80th birthday on December 2, 2024

He devised an ambitious plan to celebrate the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, which, although it excited the committee, could not be realized due to the pandemic. He gave a concert at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall for the same anniversary. Later, invited by the Hellenic Parliament Foundation, he curated an exceptional exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, which was presented throughout Greece and traveled to Cyprus for a series of concerts also dedicated to the destruction of Smyrna.

By this point, two years had passed since his official cancer diagnosis, and his treatments were ongoing. Until the nightmare of COVID-19 knocked on his door at a time when his body was weak and frail:

“Sometime in the spring of 2022, it seems I got caught. While continuing my immunotherapy treatments at the hospital, I received a request from Cyprus to give a few concerts for the centennial of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. I couldn’t refuse. We took every precaution and traveled to the island with Giotis Kiourtsoglou. I always wore a mask… But as soon as I returned, I was bedridden with a high fever. We called a doctor. ‘Get to the hospital by ambulance—quickly!’ he ordered. I’d contracted COVID-19. Already weakened from the treatments, I caught the virus on the plane because planes are gas chambers. And there you have it.”

Despite strictly adhering to COVID-19 measures, Dionysis Savvopoulos could not avoid the virus

The recounting of an incident that occurred during that critical hospitalization is truly moving. It vividly captures the emotions of a man, long perceived as strong by others, who comes face to face with his vulnerability and mortality. And it proves beyond a doubt that, in such difficult moments, a human touch or a kind word from a stranger can be the most precious gift:

“The doctors held a meeting over me, wondering if I should be admitted to the ICU due to respiratory distress. It was Holy Week. They decided to wait a bit. They put me on an IV, oxygen mask, and loaded me up with medications—high doses of Lasix.

I woke up one night drenched. I’d wet my underwear, pajamas, sheets—everything was a mess. Now what? Should I call the nurses? Should they see me like this? I’m… I’m Savvopoulos. That’s not right.

It is right! What else could I do? I pressed the call button. First, one nurse arrived, saw the situation, and called for the others. They were all expressionless and professional:

• Stand up, Mr. Savvopoulos.

Should I undress? Embarrassed, I took off my pajamas. They examined me:

• Remove your underwear too.

I removed them, standing awkwardly in the corner, covering what I could with my hands. I felt like a slug, a nothing.
And just when I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole, I suddenly felt as if it no longer mattered, as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I took a deep breath and surrendered to the hands of those women. They washed me, gave me clean pajamas to wear, laid me on fresh sheets, and tucked me in.

• Happy Easter, they said as they left. Easter had arrived.”