Lilika Naku

Ioulia "Lilika" Nakos (also Nakou; ; February 24, 1904 – May 25, 1989) was a pioneering Greek journalist and writer.

She has been described as one of the "grandes dames of modern Greek literature." According to scholar Deborah Tannen, she was "one of the first women writers of modern Greek prose and for many years the only woman in Greek journalism."

Early life and education Ioulia Nakos, known by the nickname Lilika, was born in Athens in 1904, although her date of birth is somewhat disputed. Her father was , a member of parliament.

In 1911, Nakos moved to Geneva, Switzerland, with her mother. She studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève and then the University of Geneva. Her youth in Geneva brought her into contact with the international pacifist left, which had a significant impact on her perspective throughout her life. Then, in the mid-'40s, she wrote for the papers Ethnos and Embros.

From 1937 to 1939, she was married to Constantine Foskolos. Their relationship ended in divorce. She suffered significant physical and emotional trauma in this period.

With the death of her mother in 1947, due to the long-term effects of starvation during the war, Nakos returned to Switzerland, where she settled in Lausanne. She wrote for French-language newspapers in Switzerland and Paris from 1947 to 1955, and then for the Greek publication Ora, before retiring with a pension from the Journalists' Union in 1958. She also wrote several more books throughout the 1950s and '60s, and became particularly known for her 1955 work I Kyria Ntoremi ("Mrs. Doremi"), which is considered her only comic novel.

Later years After suffering paralyzing back pain, Nakos began spending time recovering in Icaria on a doctor's advice. In 1967, while on the island, she was severely paralyzed due to sciatica and returned permanently to Athens.

In 1979, her book Oi Parastratimenoi ("The Lost") was made into a television series, followed by a serial based on I Kyria Ntoremi in the 1980s, drawing renewed attention to her work. She died in 1989 at age 81.

Selected works

Photini (1928) I Xepartheni (1932) Oi Parastratimenoi (1935) I Zoi tou Edgar Poe (1936) I Kolasi Ton Paidion (1944) Nafsika (1953) I Kyria Ntoremi (1955) Anthropina Pepromena (1955) Yia Mia Kainouryia Zoi (1960) Oi Oramatistes Tis Ikarias (1963) Prosopikotites pou Gnorisa (1965) To Chroniko Mias Dimosiografou (1980) I Istoria tis Parthenias tis Despoinidas Tade (1981)