Eleni Boukoura-Altamoura (Greek: Ελένη Μπούκουρα-Αλταμούρα; 1821-1900), also known as Eleni Boukouras or Helen Boukoura, was a Greek painter. She is noted as being the first great female painter of Greece.

Biography

Eleni was an Arvanite. She was born on the island of Spetses in 1821. She was the daughter of Yannis Boukouras, a wealthy aristocrat and entertainer who had opened one of the first theaters in Athens following the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

. Eleni developed an interest in art from a young age. Seeing this, her father hired Italian artist

Raffaello Ceccoli Raffaello, Raffaele or Raffaellino is an Italian given name. It usually refers to Raphael (a.k.a. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino), an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Raffaello may also refer to: * Raffaello (confection), a confe ...

as a tutor for his daughter. She continued her studies, and at the age of 27 left for Naples with a letter of recommendation from Ceccoli to begin her education as an artist. While studying in Naples and Florence, she dressed as a man in order to attend art classes. While studying in Italy, Eleni began a relationship with Italian painter

Francesco Saverio Altamura Francesco Saverio Altamura (5 August 1822 – 5 January 1897) was an Italian painter, known for Romantic style canvases depicting mainly historical events. Biography left, ''Medieval Marriage: Marriage of Buondelmonte'' He was born in Foggia, ...

, with whom she had three children. She later converted to Catholicism and married Altamura to legitimize the relationship, though her husband would eventually leave Eleni for his mistress, British painter Jane Benham Hay. Eleni and two of her children (her youngest son, Alexander, remained in the custody of her estranged husband) relocated to Athens, where Eleni made a living through painting and teaching art lessons. In 1872 she and her daughter Sophia moved to her family home on Spetses when Sophia contracted tuberculosis. Sophia died of the disease before the end of the year at the age of 18, and so Eleni returned to Athens. In 1876 her son Ioannis, himself a noted seascape painter, finished his studies in Copenhagen and returned to live with his mother in Athens. Just as with his sister before him, Ioannis contracted tuberculosis, succumbing to the disease in 1878. After his death, she burned some of her son's paintings along with many of her own works, and retreated from society. At some point she returned to Spetses, where she died in relative obscurity in 1900.

Legacy

Eleni Boukoura is considered one of first great female artists of Modern Greece. The tragedies she experienced in her life were the subject of Greek author

Rhea Galanaki Rea Galanaki ( el, Ρέα Γαλανάκη) is a Greek author who was born in Heraklion, Crete in 1947. She studied history and archaeology at the University of Athens. She has published novels, short stories, essays and poetry books. Her six nove ...

's novel '' Eleni, or, Nobody,'' which was later adapted into a play.Bien, P. (2004). ''World Literature Today,'' ''78''(3/4), 150-150. doi:10.2307/40158640

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boukora-Altamoura, Eleni 19th-century Greek artists 19th-century Greek painters 1821 births 1900 deaths People from Spetses Greek women painters