NAME: Mihael Vlavianos (Suhalis or Proestos) of Evangelos and Sofia
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lagada, Amorgos
PLACE OF DEATH: Lagada Amorgos
PLACE OF RESIDENCE: Amorgos
SPOUSE / MAIDEN NAME: The first wife was Anna Hugill of Jack Hugill, and the second wife was Stella Anevlavi
PROFESSION: Barber
INSTRUMENT: Lute, Singer
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Mihael Vlavianos, (Suhalis or Proestos), of Evangelos and Sofia, was born in Lagada, Amorgos in 1938 and died in 2022. He was married to Anna Hugill with whom they had four children and later to Stella Anevlavi. During his life he had various professions (barber, carpenter, breeder) and was a permanent resident of Lagada, Amorgos.
He started playing the lute at the age of nineteen. He studied next to the luthier Evangelos Vekris (the “little Vangelis”) from Tholaria Amorgos. Apart from being a luthier, he was also a singer and stylist.
He participated as a musician in hundreds of social, religious and private events (festivals, fairs, weddings, baptisms, etc.), in collaboration with many violinists of Amorgos. For many years he played mainly with violinist Stefanos Synodinos (Stefanaki) and later with Nikolaos Stefanopoulos (Dirlas) from Tholaria Amorgos.
In the 1970s he participated in the historical recordings of Simon Karas and in 2003, together with Stefanos Synodinos (Stefanaki), they travelled to the USA where they participated in a festival of Greek traditional music, together with other groups from all over Greece, winning the first prize.