Katina Papa ( el, Κατίνα Παπά; 1903–1959) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

writer. She became well known for her poetry and novels.

Life

She was born in the village of Janicat in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, today part of the Finiq municipality in southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

. Her family had to find refuge in the nearby island of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

because her father was accused by the local Ottoman authorities of participating in a local revolt. Katina Papa studied at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

and then became a teacher. Her writing is associated with her experiences as a teacher. Her first book ''Stin sikaminia apo kato'' (Under the Mulberry Tree) received the Academy of Athens award. Papa's main characters are mainly girls, such as Tasoula (in a novel with the same title), a servant girl from Corfu, where she dreams to live with her godfather in Athens. She writes to him about her dreams. He answers, but the girl cannot manage to open the letter, fearing that the answer might be negative. The distinguished author

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years. Kazantzakis's n ...

said to her once, "I really admire your writing style... the sensitivity, the liveliness". Katina Papa died in Athens in 1957 at the age of 54. After her death her sister, the painter

Aglaia Papa Aglaia Papa ( el, Αγλαΐα Παπά, 1904–84) was a Greek painter. Life Aglaia Papa was born in Corfu in 1904. Her family lived in Janicat, then in the Ottoman Empire, now in Albania. Her older sister Katina Papa (1903–57) would become ...

, arranged for publication of Katina's novel ''S'ena gymnasio thyleon'' ("In a girls' high school") and a collection of Katina's poems: ''Poiimata'' (''Poems'').

Works

*''Sti sykaminia apo kato'' (''Under the Mullbery Tree'') 1935. *''An allazan ola'' (''If Everything Changed'') 1948. *''S'ena gymnasio thyleon'' (''At a Girls' High School''). *''Poiimata'' (''Poems'') 1963. Her works have been translated into several languages.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papa, Katina 1903 births 1959 deaths People from Finiq 20th-century Greek poets Greek women novelists National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Greek women poets 20th-century women writers 20th-century novelists Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece