He was born in Kavala, Greece on 06/01/1910. He began studying the piano on his own at a very early age. He then studied music under Marika Laspopoulou at the Hellenic Conservatory of Music & Arts in Athens as well as theory and composition under Alekos Kontis, graduating with a diploma in piano, music theory and composition (1934) He was also a student of Emilios Riadis at the Thessaloniki State Conservatoire. As a scholar of UNESCO, he visited major music centers of Europe, became informed of the music trends of the time and worked for one year with composer Arthur Honegger in Paris (1949). He kept updated with the latest developments in music throughout his creative career. He started composing regularly in 1932. He divides his composition work into four periods, during which he gradually explores impressionism (1932/38), approaches the traditional, folk genre and the national school (1939/43), works with elements of byzantine music (1944/52), and then turns to more modern techniques, atonality, then dodecaphony, serialism and exotic "roads", to end up in a personal style. He was very productive and composed many songs, chamber music for various organ combinations, five symphonies, two concerts, one opera and a lot of stage music. His work widely influenced Greece’s modern music school and he is considered one of the most significant composers of the 20th century.In the period 1954-1976 he taught advanced music theory and composition at the Hellenic Conservatory, while also delivering private lessons. He was one of the few who taught modern composition techniques sytematically in Greece. He died in Athens on 11/5/1989. In 2005, the Benaki Museum held a large tribute-exhibition on him. He served as a GNO board member in 1974.