Presentation of the book Antigoni N. Zouroudi “The Mother of the Dodecanese” by Anna Andriotaki-Charitou at Halki

The book will be presented by the author Ms. Titsha Pipinou.

The heroine of the book, in 1931, founded in Athens the first women’s Charity Association, the “Dodecanese Melissa”, and headed a major charity campaign for the protection of her fellow countrymen refugees who arrived daily during the interwar period from the Italian-occupied islands of the Dodecanese to the Attica basin. This Association is still alive today, granting scholarships exclusively to Dodecanese students.

In 1936, Antigoni Zouroudi founded the “Sunday Dodecanese School”, which operated six schools in Athens and Piraeus, with the aim of preserving and strengthening the Greek identity among the expatriate Dodecanese students. Among other things, Antigoni Zouroudi and her colleagues undertook the construction of a marble statue of the Patmian Philhellene and Hero of the 1821 Revolution, Dimitrios Themelis, and the placement of the statue on his grave in the Heroes’ Garden of the Holy City of Messolonghi.

With the declaration of war in 1940, the “Union of Dodecanese Women’s Intellectuals” was founded by Antigone’s daughter, the doctor Pasithea Zouroudi, with Antigone as its founding and active member and later its honorary President. During the Italo-German occupation, the Association developed a significant resistance activity, and after the incorporation of the Dodecanese in 1947, it helped to restore the damages and to support the inhabitants of the smallest and poorest islands of the Dodecanese, who survived in their birthplace after 638 years of slavery.

The two above mentioned Women’s Organizations and the third one of the “Schools”, for the most part also female, impress with their action, because with courage and sacrifices, Dodecanese women contributed to the fulfillment of the National Goal, the integration of the Dodecanese into Mother Greece. To this outstanding female personality, her colleagues at the “Sunday Dodecanese School”, in order to honor her for her work and her resistance action during the Italian-German occupation, awarded her the coveted title “The Mother of the Dodecanese”.

Within the 400 pages and more of the book, the life and work of this unique woman unfolds, with many primary sources and texts from Antigone Zouroudi, her collaborators and the press of the time. The texts are accompanied by photographic material, and in the Appendices the reader will be introduced to the Zouroudi Family and additional sources and original texts from the activities and legacy of this great woman.

A few words about Anna Haritou
Anna Haritou was born in Piraeus and grew up in Rhodes where she lives until today. She is originally from Symi and Nisyros.
He graduated from the Athens School of Agriculture and worked at the Ministry of Agriculture in the field of agricultural research. He speaks three foreign languages, English, Italian and French.

He is the author of the book “The Butterfly of Rhodes” (ISBN 978-618-84257-0-5), which was successfully published in multiple editions.

It has demonstrated a rich cultural and social activity. Among other things, she is a founding member of the House of Europe in Rhodes, where she served as its president for six years and is currently its “honorary president”.

He is a member, since 1995, of the Rhodes Committee of the “Dodecanese Bee”.

Bibliographical reference: Andriotaki-Charitou, Anna, “Antigoni N. Zouroudi – The Mother of the Dodecanese”, Rhodes, mgk.advertising, 2024

ISBN: 978-618-84257-7-4

© 2024, Anna Haritou-Andriotaki. All rights reserved.

Author: Anna Andriotaki-Charitou
Cover: Design Michael G. Michael G. Kavuklis. Saklaridis, Portrait Photography Pavlos Tsokunoglou
Final page layout and editing.
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