Sappho Leontias ( Greek: Σαπφώ Λεοντιάς) ( Constantinople, 1830 or

Moutoullas Moutoullas ( el, Μουτουλλάς [], tr, Mudulla) is a mountain village in the Nicosia District of Cyprus, at an elevation of in Marathasa Valley. In 2011, it had a population of 174. The old village church, the 13th-century chapel of ''Pa ...

, 1832 – Constantinople, 1900) was a Cypriot writer, feminist, and educator.

Early life and education

Sappho was born as Sappho Clerides (Σαπφώ Κληρίδη) in 1830 Constantinople or according to other accounts in 1832 in Moutoullas village, in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

district. Leontias was her literary nickname. Her father was Leontios Clerides (Λεόντιος Κληρίδης) from

Marathasa Marathassa Valley ( el, Κοιλάδα Μαραθάσας) is a beautiful and fertile valley in the Troödos Mountains of Cyprus. It takes its name from the plant ''Marathos'' (Greek: ''Μάραθος''), a type of fennel which grows in the area. ...

, he was a well known teacher and Hellenist. Leontios was possibly the headmaster of the Greek School of Nicosia (Ελληνικής Σχολής Λευκωσίας) between 1840 and 1845. Sappho was educated by him and later founded with him a number of schools in Cyprus and in Leros. Her mother was Sophia Clerides (Σοφία Κληρίδη) and her sister Emilia Leontias-Kteni (Αιμίλια Λεοντιάς-Κτενή).

Career

She taught in

schools for 7 years and then at

Morphou Morphou ( el, Μόρφου; tr, Omorfo or ) is a town in the northwestern part of Cyprus, under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. It is the administrative center of the Güzelyurt District of Northern Cyprus. Having been a predominantl ...

. In 1854 she went to Samos where she founded a girls school and taught for 3 years. For the next 3 years she taught at Aronis girls school (παρθεναγωγείο Αρώνη) in Smyrna and then she went back to Samos where she was the headmistress of a school for 4 years. Then she went back to Smyrna and taught for many years at the girl school of Agia Fotini, where one of her pupils was the also Cypriot and later educator and feminist Polyxeni Loizias. Finally, she settled in Constantinople where she taught at the Palladion girls school (παρθεναγωγείο Παλλάδιον). Where among her students was

Alexandra Papadopoulou Alexandra Papadopoulou (born 10 April 1957, Athens, Greece) is currently the Greek Ambassador to the United States and has been in the position since February 2020. She is the first woman to serve in that post. Early life and education Papadopoul ...

. Ιn Constantinople she published '' Eurydice'' (1870-1873), together with her sister Emilia Leontias, the first Greek literally journal that was directed by a woman. In the journal she published a large number of her own work. In her literrary work she published mostly romantic poetry with subjects ispired from nature, the motherland and religion. She also wrote short stories, articles, studies and various school textbooks. She translated Jean Racine's from the French and Homer as well as Aeschylus's '' The Persians'' into modern Greek. In 1887, she published a book on home economics, ''Oikiaki oikonomia pros hrisin ton Parthenagogeion''. She published only a small part of her work in a book in Constantinople in 1899, entitled ''Ὁ'' ''Ἀνήρ καί'' ''ἡ Γυνή.'' She advocated for educational opportunities for Greek women She became active advocating women's rights, particularly the right to education.

Personal life

She was married to Narlis, a member of the so called Greek Ottoman assembly. They had a daughter called Korinna who married the doctor D. Logiades (Δ. Λογιάδης).

Publications

Publications about Leontias

* Αλιμπέρτη, Σ. (1900). ''Σαπφώ Λεοντιάς η του Γένους διδάσκαλος'', ''Πλειάς'' 2, αρ. 8-9:130-131, αρ. 10:153-155, αρ. 11-12, σ. 183-184. * Δεβιάζης, Σπ. (1912). Διαπρεπείς Ελληνίδες κατά το 19ο αιώνα: Σαπφώ Λεοντιάς, ''Ελληνική Επιθεώρησις'', 5, αρ. 55-60, σσ. 172- 173, 199-200. * ''Μεγάλη Παιδαγωγική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια,'' λήμμα «Σαπφώ Λεοντιάς» (συντάκτης λήμματος Αντ. Ισηγόνης). * Παρασκευά, Παρ. (2001). ''Σαπφώ Λεοντιάς (1830-1900): Παιδαγωγικές απόψεις, εκπαιδευτική δράση, κοινωνική παρουσία''. Μεταπτυχ. διπλωμ. εργασία, Α.Π.Θ. * Κωνσταντοπούλου, Α. (2006). '' Η Σαπφώ Λεοντίας και η γυναικεία εκπαίδευση στη Σμύρνη το 19ο αιώνα''. Διπλωμ. εργασία, Πανεπιστήμιο του Αιγαίου. * Δαλακούρα, Κ. (2013)
Μεταξύ Ανατολής και Δύσης: Η Εκπαιδευτική Θεωρία της Σαπφούς Λεοντιάδος (1830-1900)
''Θέματα της Ιστορίας της Εκπαίδευσης. Περιοδική Έκδοση των Ελληνικής Εταιρείας των Ιστορικών της Εκπαίδευσης (ΕΛ.Ε.Ι.Ε.)'', 11, 89-127.

Notes

1832 births 1900 deaths Greek educational theorists Greek feminists Educators from the Ottoman Empire Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Constantinopolitan Greeks Writers from the Ottoman Empire Women school principals and headteachers 19th-century women educators Writers from Istanbul {{Greece-bio-stub