Mary Paraskeva ( el, Μαίρη Παρασκευά; née Gripari (Γρυπάρη), 1882–1951) was a Greek amateur photographer; her photographic legacy from the beginning of the 20th century is probably the earliest known by a Greek woman.

Biography

Born on the island of

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according to th ...

, Paraskeva was the daughter of shipping magnate Nicolas Gripari who had a prosperous export business in Odessa and a large estate at Baranovka in northwestern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Paraskeva, who married the Greek engineer Nikos Paraskevas from

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

in 1903, started photographing from her late teens or early twenties.

Photographs

Paraskeva's glass positives or lantern slides, most of them stereoscopic plates, include photographs of Greece, Egypt, France, Venice and the Alps. While they do not reflect the latest technical developments available, they are remarkably well preserved and of a high technical quality. They are also of considerable historical importance, especially in documenting life in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

before the Russian Revolution. Many of Paraskeva's images were taken in the company of her friend Argine Salvago (1883–1972), also a photographer. Salvago's shots often include Paraskeva's remarkably contemporary-looking figure. The photographs of both Mary Paraskeva and Argine Salvago were rediscovered in the late 1990s. They were first revealed by Maria Karavia in her book ''Odissos, i lismonimeni patrida'' (Odessa, the forgotten homeland), Agra Editions, Athens 1998.

Digitization

Most of the images taken by Mary Paraskeva have been donated by her great-nephew Petros Griparis to the

Benaki Museum The Benaki Museum, established and endowed in 1930 by Antonis Benakis in memory of his father Emmanuel Benakis, is housed in the Benakis family mansion in downtown Athens, Greece. The museum houses Greek works of art from the prehistorical to the ...

in Athens, where there are plans to exhibit them as digital prints.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraskeva, Mary Greek photographers 1882 births 1951 deaths Greek women photographers People from Mykonos