“I have gone through my whole life in sync with Greece. A drama, is it? A drama for me too. It is impossible for a storm to break out in the country without me finding myself at the center of it.” Dido Sotiropoulou

In the gloom of the successive crises, I suddenly felt the strong need to breathe some fresh air, to feel optimistic. So I decided that it was time to revive my idol, Dido Sotiropoulou. It is unfair that the older generation is slowly forgetting her and that the younger generation is completely unaware of her.

There was no one like this warrior woman for good, who traversed the entire 20th century, found herself at the heart of every Greek tragedy (from the Asia Minor Catastrophe to the junta), and managed to stride over all the ruins wearing her eternal smile, a red beret, necklace, and perfume.

I immediately began the research (which ultimately inspired me to write the book Couples Who Wrote the History of Greece), and fortunately, because in the meantime Alkis Zei and Nikos Beloyannis, the only survivors who knew her inside out, passed away.

I hope that I have written a completely hybrid biography with the distinctive title I Dreamt of Dido. Because indeed, I dreamt of her vividly, tirelessly, and joyfully, just as she always was, telling me her life story that was wildly incredible!

L. D.