Maria Svolou ( el, Μαρία Σβώλου, ''née'' Desypri; 1892 – 1976) was a Greek feminist and socialist leader. Maria Desypri was born around 1892 in

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 ...

to George Desypros and his wife. Maria was one of four daughters and lived for two years in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

. She moved with her family to

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

in her youth when her father was appointed director of a branch of the Greek National Bank. There she studied at the

Arsakeio Arsakeion (Greek: Αρσάκειον), or Arsakeio (Αρσάκειο), is the name of a group of co-educational independent schools in Greece, administered by the ''Philekpaideutikē Etaireía'' (Φιλεκπαιδευτική Εταιρεία, "So ...

n School of Larissa, graduating around 1907. Following the death of her father in 1915, the family returned to Athens. She received a certificate in French Studies in 1916 and a license for teaching French from the Ecclesiastical and Public Education Ministries in 1919. Svolou was active in the women's movement of Greece from a young age. She married law professor

Alexandros Svolos Alexandros Svolos ( el, Αλέξανδρος Σβώλος; 1892, Kruševo, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – 22 February 1956, Athens, Greece) was a prominent Greek legal expert, who also served as president of the Political Committee of Natio ...

in 1923. As secretary of the League for Women's Rights she advocated for the creation of night schools for women who worked and fought against prostitution. She campaigned and wrote on behalf of equality for the women of Greece. She was inspector of labor for the Ministry of Economics and used her position there to draw attention the poor working and housing conditions of impoverished working women. Svolou was involved in liberal politics from 1911 to 1936 and supported the peace movement. She was editor of the magazine ''Woman's Struggle'' and was exiled from Greece from 1936 to 1940 with her husband by dictator

Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...

. Svolou was a leader of the liberal feminist movement but believed that

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

could only be attained after fundamental societal change. She returned to Greece in 1940 and volunteered in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

as a nurse. She later organised meals with the Red Cross for children during the German occupation of Greece. Svolou joined the

EAM-ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...

resistance movement and was elected a member of the National Council, while her husband became chairman of the EAM-led

Political Committee of National Liberation The Political Committee of National Liberation ( el, Πολιτική Επιτροπή Εθνικής Απελευθέρωσης, ''Politiki Epitropi Ethnikis Apeleftherosis'', PEEA), commonly known as the "Mountain Government" ( el, Κυβέρ ...

. Svolou sympathised with the Communists and was exiled again in 1948, during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

. Following her return she ran for the Parliament as a member of the

United Democratic Left The United Democratic Left (, ''Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá'' (EDA)) was a left-wing political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74. Foundation The party was founded in July 1951 by prominent center-left ...

. She was elected twice and was a member of the party's Central Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Svolou, Maria 1890s births 1976 deaths Greek feminists Politicians from Athens National Liberation Front (Greece) members United Democratic Left politicians Socialist feminists Greek suffragists