Cybele ( el, Κυβέλη) (13 July 1888 – 26 May 1978) was the stage name of the famous Greek actress Cybele Andrianou ( el, Κυβέλη Ανδριανού). She was born on 13 July 1888 to an unmarried couple in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

and spent the first two years of her life in an

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

orphanage. At the age of two-and-a-half, she was adopted by Anastasis and Maria Andrianou. The family of a famous Athenian lawyer of the time, who had recently lost their only child, helped Cybele's adoptive parents financially. In 1901, at the age of 13, she received her first award for her stage performance.

Career

Cybele was one of the main actresses of Nea Skini from 1901 to 1906. There, she had the chance to perform the only roles of her life based on ancient Greek

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

' ''

Alcestis Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from ...

'' and

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...

' ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

''. She later became known for her performances in plays of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

and

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

. In 1908, she worked for the first time with

Gregorios Xenopoulos Gregorios Xenopoulos ( el, Γρηγόριος Ξενόπουλος; December 9, 1867 – 14 January 1951) was a novelist, journalist and playwright from Zakynthos. He was lead editor in the magazine ''The Education of Children'' (Η Διάπλασ ...

, who wrote her the theatric play ''The Red Rock'' (Ο Κόκκινος Βράχος), based his short novel written of the same name. The play was of huge success, and was repeated by Cybele's theatrical group for many years to come. Xenopoulos continued to write her at least one play a year, until 1925. Cybele also worked with

Pantelis Horn Pantelis Horn ( gr, Παντελής Χορν; 1 January 1881–1 November 1941) was a Greek naval officer and playwright, one of the few Greek writers of the early 20th century who devoted themselves solely to theatre. He produced works in the ...

(the father of

Dimitris Horn Dimitris Horn () (9 March 1921 – 16 January 1998) was a Greek theatrical and film performer of modern times. Biography Horn was born in Athens in 1921, the son of playwright Pantelis Horn (himself descended from an Austrian father and Greek mot ...

) from 1910 to 1934. In 1932, she joined forces with

Marika Kotopouli Marika Kotopouli ( el, Μαρίκα Κοτοπούλη; 3 May 1887 – 11 September 1954) was a Greek stage actress during the first half of the 20th century. Biography Kotopouli was born on 3 May 1887 in Athens to actor parents, Dimitrios Kot ...

, her "stage enemy", in order to compete the newly founded National Theater of Greece. After the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

, she fled along with her husband,

George Papandreou George Andreas Papandreou ( el, Γεώργιος Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from ...

, and the Greek government and royal family to the Middle East. After the war, she returned in Greece and performed various roles with the National Theater, accompanied by

Ellie Lambeti Ellie Loukou ( el, Έλλη Λούκου; 13 April 1926 – 3 September 1983), known professionally as Ellie Lambeti ( el, Έλλη Λαμπέτη), was a Greek actress. Family Lambeti was born in 1926 in the village of Vilia, Attiki, to Kos ...

, Dimitris Horn, Mitsos Myrat and other famous actors and actresses. The summer of 1951 she made her only appearance in an ancient Greek

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

, in

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

' ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

''. Cybele appeared in only two films during her career, in 1933 and 1956.

Personal life

Cybele's first husband was Mitsos Myrat, with whom she continued to work on stage after their divorce. They had two children: a son, Alexandros "Alekos" and a daughter, Miranda (also rendered as Miranta) (1906-1994). She later married a prominent businessman, Kostas Theodoridis. They had a daughter, Aliki. Her third husband was

, later

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. They had one son, Georgios. When Cybele died, in 1978, at the age of 89, she had 4 children, 3 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. Miranda's daughter, Kyveli Theohari, was also an actress. The actress Rita Myrat (née Tarsouli) was her daughter-in-law being the wife of her son Alekos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrianou, Cybele 1888 births 1978 deaths Smyrniote Greeks People from Aidin vilayet Spouses of prime ministers of Greece Greek stage actresses Greek film actresses Papandreou family Actresses from İzmir