Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros (Greek: Νικόλαος Χαλικιόπουλος Μάντζαρος [niˈkolaos xaliˈcopulos ˈmandzaros]; Italian: Niccoló Calichiopulo Manzaro; 26 October 1795 – 12 April 1872) was a Greek-Italian composer, born in Corfu. He was a major representative and founder of the so-called Ionian School of music (Επτανησιακή Σχολή).
Recent research and performances have led to a re-evaluation of Mantzaros as a significant composer and music theorist.
Dionysios Solomos (/ˈsɒləmɒs/; Greek: Διονύσιος Σολωμός [ði.oniˈsios soloˈmos]; 8 April 1798 – 9 February 1857) was a Greek poet from Zakynthos, who is considered to be Greece's national poet. He is best known for writing the Hymn to Liberty (Greek: Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν, Ýmnos eis tīn Eleutherían), which was set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros and became the Greek and Cypriot national anthem in 1865 and 1966 respectively. He was the central figure of the Heptanese School of poetry. He is considered the national poet of Greece, not only because he wrote the national anthem, but also because he contributed to the preservation of earlier poetic tradition and highlighted its usefulness to modern literature. Other notable poems include Ὁ Κρητικός (The Cretan), Ἐλεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι (The Free Besieged). A characteristic of his work is that no poem except the Hymn to Liberty was completed, and almost nothing was published during his lifetime.
The "Hymn to Liberty", also known as the "Hymn to Freedom", is a Greek poem written by Dionysios Solomos in 1823 and set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros in 1828. Consisting of 158 stanzas in total, its two first stanzas officially became the national anthem of Greece in 1864 and Cyprus in 1966.