Iannis Xenakis

Iannis Xenakis is, to my mind, one of the true polymaths of the twentieth century. A Romanian-born Greek who became French, he was at once composer, architect and engineer, and he fused mathematics and probability theory into music in ways no one had dared. Building sound with the logic of architecture is an extraordinary leap of imagination. His life was harrowing too, exiled from Greece before finding refuge in France. The Kyoto Prize and his national honors confirm a mind the world recognized. His music can baffle on first listen, but it rewards every return.

Name (English)

Iannis Xenakis

Name (Japanese)

ヤニス・クセナキス

Reading

やにす・くせなきす

Born

May 29, 1922 – February 4, 2001

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Dog

Origin

Brăila, Brăila County, Kingdom of Romania

Occupation

composer / architect / engineer / music educator / musician

University

National Technical University of Athens

Awards & achievements

• 1997 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy
• honorary doctor of the University of Sydney
• 1995 Commander of the National Order of Merit
• Honorary Member of the International Society for Contemporary Music

• Official sitehttps://www.iannis-xenakis.org
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iannis%20Xenakis
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A4%E3%83%8B%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AF%E3%82%BB%E3%83%8A%E3%82%AD%E3%82%B9
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q152880

Tags

• Brăila County
• composer
• architect
• engineer

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.