Anthoula Stathopoulou-Vafopoulou

April 16, 1935
Anthoula Stathopoulou-Vafopoulou as a teenager in 1924
Born	1908
Died	April 16, 1935 (age 26)
Occupation	Poet and playwright
Notable works	Sleepless Nights (Greek: Νύχτες αγρύπνιας)
Spouse	Georgios Vafopoulos (1931–1935)

Anthoula Stathopoulou-Vafopoulou (Greek: Ανθούλα Σταθοπούλου-Βαφοπούλου; 1908 – April 16, 1935) was a Greek poet and playwright of the interwar period.

Biography

Anthoula Stathopoulou was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1908.[1] In her youth she attended the city's High School for Girls and its French School.[1][2] In 1924, at only 15 years old, she met the poet Georgios Vafopoulos, then in his early 20s.[2] The two would marry later, in 1931, when they were 22 and 28.[2] It was then that she took on the surname Stathopoulou-Vafopoulou.[1]

Stathopoulou-Vafopoulou worked for a short period at the Thessaloniki City Hall, then became interested in the theater and attended the School of Dramatic Arts at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki.[1][2][3]

She began writing poetry and plays, which she published in literary magazines in Thessaloniki (such as Makedonikes Imeres) and Athens (such as Nea Estia).[1][2] Her plays were performed at the School of Dramatic arts, under the direction of Takis Mouzenidis [el].[1][2] In 1932, she published her first and only book of poems, titled Sleepless Nights (Greek: Νύχτες αγρύπνιας).[1][2]

In 1935, Stathopoulou-Vafopoulou died of tuberculosis, like her poetic contemporaries Maria Polydouri and Minos Zotos [el], at only 26 years old.[1][2][4] She spent her final months at the sanatorium in Asvestochori.[3]

Shortly after her death, the poet Tellos Agras [el] published a review of her book of poetry in Nea Estia.[5] Her husband collected her writings the following year in a volume titled Works (Greek: Έργα), with a prologue by Gregorios Xenopoulos.[1][2] It was reviewed in Nea Estia by Cleon Paraschos [el].

In the 1940s, the songwriter Vassilis Tsitsanis honored her by borrowing from her writing in one of his pieces.[2] A play based on her life and death was produced in Greece in 2024.[3]

Works

The title page of Sleepless Nights

Poetry

• Sleepless Nights [Νύχτες αγρύπνιας] (1932)

In its 55 poems, this collection radiates sensitivity, the sensation of sleeping awake and the poet's romantic sorrow. In its lyricism, using rhetorical questions and similes, the work conveys a great emotional weight to the reader.

Some scholars have characterized her writing as "post-symbolic."[6]

Complete works

• Works [Έργα· Ποιήματα – Διηγήματα - Δράματα] (1936)

References

1. Βιβλίου, Εθνικό Κέντρο (ed.). "Αρχείο Ελλήνων Λογοτεχνών - Σταθοπούλου-Βαφοπούλου Ανθούλα". www.ekebi.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2017-08-20.
2. Tsimou, Kya (2017-02-13). "Mεγάλοι έρωτες στη Θεσσαλονίκη". Parallaxi (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-08-28.
3. "Μια φωτεινή ελεγεία για την Ανθούλα Σταθοπούλου". AthensVoice (in Greek). 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
4. Mackridge, Peter; Yannakakis, Eleni (1997). Ourselves and Others: The Development of a Greek Macedonian Cultural Identity Since 1912. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85973-133-8.
5. Agras, Tellos (1935-05-15). "Ανθούλα Βαφοπούλου". Nea Estia (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2018-03-31.
6. Chasiōtēs, Iōannēs K. (1997). Queen of the Worthy: Thessaloniki, History and Culture. Paratiritis. ISBN 978-960-260-953-8.