Sotiriou, Dido (1909–2004)

Greek novelist, feminist and journalist. Name variations: Dido Soteriou. Born Dido Pappas, Feb 18, 1909, a Greek in Audin, Turkey; died Sept 23, 2004; dau. of an industrialist; sister of Elli Pappas (who was imprisoned for 16 years [1950–66] because of her relationship with KKE leader Nikos Beloyianis, shot as a traitor by the conservative government); m. Plato Sotiriou (uncle of the author Alki Zei); studied literature at the Sorbonne; children: raised her sister's son, Nikos.

Was the 1st woman to write about the the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), the destruction of Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey) and the expulsion of about 1 million Greeks by the forces of Atatürk; published Matomena Chomata (Bloodied Earth, 1962), reprinted in English as Farewell Anatolia (1991), which chronicled her family's flight from Turkey and the later exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey (the book has been republished 65 times); since her parents died soon after the enforced exodus, was raised in Athens, Greece, by an aunt; began writing career as the French correspondent for several Greek newspapers and magazines, one of the 1st Greek women to break into journalism; joined Greek Communist Party (mid-1930s), became editor of its newspaper Rizospastis (1945), but later expelled for voicing dissent; during WWII, was active in the resistance; also wrote The Dead Are Waiting (1959), Electra (1961), and The Command (1976). Awarded Greece's highest honor for a writer, the prize of the Athens Academy.