Elli Alexiou

ELLI ALEXIOU (1894-1988) Elli Alexiou was born in Heraklion, Crete, the daughter of publisher Stylianos Alexiou and Irini Zachariadi. She had three older siblings: Galatea, Radamanthys, and Lefteris. She attended the Heraklion School. During the Theriso Revolution, her father was arrested and imprisoned for collaborating with the revolutionaries. Two years later, her mother died of apoplexy. In 1910, she graduated from the Higher Girls' School of Heraklion, and a year later, she visited Athens for the first time, where she joined the literary circle of Dexamenis and met writers such as Karkavitsas, Vlachogiannis, Theotokis, Travlantonis, Kondylakis, Avgeris, and Varnalis. The latter proposed marriage to her, and her father accepted with a four-year postponement. In 1913, following a decision by the Cretan State, she was examined by the Arsakeio Pedagogical Academy and recognized as a Diploma holder. In 1914, she was appointed to the Third Christian Gymnasium of Agia Paraskevi in Heraklion, and the following year, she was appointed to the Model Teaching School of the city. In 1919, she became a diploma holder of the Institut Superieur d’ Etudes Francaises and was appointed to the Higher Girls' School of Heraklion. That same year, she met Vassos Daskalakis at Dexamenis, whom she married in 1920 in Paris. The following year, her father died of cancer. In 1925, she graduated from the German School of Athens. In 1928, she joined the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and in 1934 participated in the founding of the Society of Greek Writers. Two years later, she was arrested by the Special Security of the Fourth of August dictatorship and interrogated. In 1938, she divorced Daskalakis. During the German occupation, she lived alone in Kallithea and was active within the framework of the National Liberation Front (EAM). In 1945, she traveled to Paris on a scholarship from the French government, attended courses at the University of Sorbonne, and met French writers such as Louis Aragon and Paul Éluard. In 1948, she participated in the first intellectuals' conference in Wroclaw and was appointed educational advisor by the Child Relief Committee, and a year later, at the first peace conference in Paris. In 1949, she self-exiled to Romania and participated in the second peace conference. She also participated in the Conference on Education in Vienna (1952), the first world conference of democratic women in Copenhagen (1953), and the Literary Conference of Berlin (1957). In 1952, she visited the Soviet Union at the invitation of the government and in 1961 took part in the celebrations for the Ukrainian poet Taras G. Shevchenko in the same country. From 1962, she lived with Markos Avgeris in Athens. In 1965, she regained Greek citizenship, and in 1966, she was arrested for an indictment issued against her in 1952. She was triumphantly acquitted. She continued her diverse literary, educational, and political activities during the Papadopoulos dictatorship and after the restoration of democracy, giving many lectures in various Greek cities. She died in Athens. Elli Alexiou made her first appearance in the literary field in 1923 with the publication of the short story "Frantzesko" in the magazine "Friendly Society." Throughout her life, she engaged in prose, theater, the science of pedagogy, literary translation, children's books, and other areas of written expression, leaving behind a substantial body of work. Her prose indirectly reflects her concern for social justice, shaped by her political ideology, and operates within the framework of realistic writing. However, it is marked by a strong presence of personal emotional involvement and psychological elements. For more biographical details on Elli Alexiou, see Kostas Papageorgiou, "Elli Alexiou," in Interwar Prose: From the First to the Second World War (1914-1939) Vol. B, pp. 168-217. Athens, Sokolis, 1992; Ilias Simopoulos, "Daskalaki Elli," in The Great Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature Vol. 6. Athens, Haris Patsis, n.d.; Th. Foskarinis, "Biography" (Elli Alexiou), in Elli Alexiou: A Small Tribute, pp. 291-294. Athens, Kastaniotis, 1979; by the same author, An Essay on the Chronography of Elli Alexiou. Athens, Kastaniotis, 1982; and various authors, "Alexiou Elli," in World Biographical Dictionary Vol. 1. Athens, Ekdotiki Athinon, 1983. (Source: Archive of Greek Writers, EKEBI).