Elli Alexiou (sometimes Ellē; c. 1894– 1986) was a Greek author, playwright and journalist. [1] [2]
The daughter of a printer and publisher, Alexiou was born in Heraklion, Crete. [1] She taught French in a high school, [2] and was politically active, joining the Communist Party in 1928 and working with the National Liberation Front resistance during World War II. [1] After the war, she received a scholarship from the French government and studied in Paris. [1] She was stripped of Greek citizenship in 1950, living as an exile until it was restored in 1965. [1]
Alexiou wrote short stories and novels about her experience as a school teacher and her life as a political exile in Hungary and Romania. [1] Her sister Galatea was the first wife of novelist Nikos Kazantzakis. [1] [2]