Stratis Mirivilis was born in 1890 in Skamia, Lesbos. Immediately after completing his secondary education (1909), he began to publish his first literary texts in the local publications of the island.

In 1912, he enrolled at the University of Athens, initially in the Faculty of Philosophy and later in Law, without ever obtaining a degree, due to his participation in the successive wars fought by Greece during those years. He volunteered in both Balkan Wars (he was wounded in the battle of Kilkis - 20.6.1913) and shortly thereafter as a conscript in World War I and the Asian Minor campaign until 1922.