2 Euros Kostis Palamas

Kostis Palamas was the poet whose words, set to music by Spyridon Samaras, became the Olympic Hymn — first performed at the revival of the Athens Games in 1896 and formally adopted by the IOC as the official anthem in 1958. This coin marks the 150th anniversary of his birth. When Palamas died in February 1943, Athens was under Axis occupation; his funeral drew tens of thousands into the streets in an act of open defiance, mourners spontaneously singing the national anthem despite the German presence.