Elli Alexiou (sometimes Ellē; – 1988) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

author, playwright and journalist. The daughter of a printer and publisher, Alexiou was born in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. She taught French in a high school, and was politically active, joining the Communist Party in 1928 and working with the National Liberation Front resistance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, she received a scholarship from the French government and studied in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She was stripped of Greek citizenship in 1950, living as an exile until it was restored in 1965. Alexiou wrote short stories and novels about her experience as a school teacher and her life as a political exile in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Her sister

Galatea Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white". Galatea, Galathea or Gallathea may refer to: In mythology * Galatea, three different mythological figures from Greek mythology In the arts * '' Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'', ca ...

was the first wife of novelist

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis (; ; 2 March (Old Style and New Style dates, OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greeks, Greek writer, journalist, politician, poet and philosopher. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominate ...

Works

*''Third Christian Girls School'' (1934) *''Lumpen'' (1940) *''Tributaries'' (1956) *''Bent on Greatness'' (1966) *''The Dominant'' (1972) *''Demolished Mansions'' (1977) *''Royal Oak'' (1983)

References

1890s births 1988 deaths Writers from Heraklion People from Ottoman Crete Greek women novelists Greek women short story writers Greek short story writers Greek women journalists Greek women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Greek women writers 20th-century Greek dramatists and playwrights National Liberation Front (Greece) members Greek exiles 20th-century Greek novelists Greek emigrants to France 20th-century short story writers {{Greece-writer-stub