Ioanna Tsatsou Explained

Birth Name:Ioanna Seferiadi
Birth Date:1 January 1909
Birth Place:Smyrna, Ottoman Empire
Death Place:Athens, Greece
Occupation:Writer, poet
Known For:Rescuing Greek Jews during the Holocaust
Awards:French: Prix de la langue-française, 1976
Spouse:Konstantinos Tsatsos
Children:2[1] [2]
Relatives:Giorgos Seferis, brother
Signature:Ioanna Tsatsou signature.svg

Ioanna Tsatsou (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ιωάννα Τσάτσου), (January 1, 1909September 30, 2000) was a Greek writer from Smyrna.[3] She is recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for her work to save Greek Jews during the Holocaust.[4] [5]

Early life

Tsatsou was born Ioanna Seferiadi (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ιωάννα Σεφεριάδη) in Smyrna, which is now İzmir, to Despina Seferiadi and Stelios Seferiadis. She had two brothers, Giorgos Seferis and Angelos Seferiadis. Seferiadi spoke both Greek and French from a young age.[6] She and her family were in Athens during the Burning of Smyrna. They never returned to Smyrna. She wrote, "National despair was annihilating us. We had surrendered Greek soil, become fugitives. Greece shrank, shrank, crumpled." Seferiádou stayed in Athens for the rest of her life.[7] Between 1927 and 1937, Seferiádou completed her studies in law and gained a PhD.[6]

During WWII

The Axis Powers occupied Greece in 1941 during WWII. So began the Holocaust in Greece and the attempt to exterminate all Greek Jews, including the ancient Romaniote community and the Greek Sephardim.

Ioanna Tsatsou, who lived in Athens, worked together with Archbishop Damaskinos to protect Jews in her community from the genocide. She assisted Damaskinos in secretly "baptising" Greek Jews so they could obtain identity cards which said they were Christians. The aim of the baptism was not to convert the Jews. The purpose was only to secure false Christian identity cards for them so they would avoid death.[4]

Tsatsou ran a program, created by Archbishop Damaskinos, which provided monetary assistance to the families of Greek men who had been executed or taken hostage while resisting occupation.[8]

On her own, Tsatsou ran a soup kitchen in Plaka which fed over 200 people each day. Many of the people they served were unemployed Jews. Her soup kitchen enabled many to survive the war. She also hid Yolanda Baruh and her parents in her home for months during the occupation.[4] [9]

In 1943, Tsatsou was interrogated by Italian forces who believed that Damaskinos was receiving money from the Middle East. She was unharmed.[10]

Tsatsou wrote a book about her experience during the war, titled The Sword’s Fierce Edge: A Journal of the Occupation of Greece, 1941-1944.[4]

Writing

Tsatsou wrote a number of books in Greek. Many have been translated into English. She also translated some of her works into French,[11] for which she was awarded the in 1976.[12] Her early works focused on the Axis occupation of Greece.

Personal life

Tsatsou was married to Konstantinos Tsatsos, a president of Greece.[11] Her daughters were Theodora "Dora" Tsatsos-Simeonidi, a dancer, and Despina Mylonas. Konstantinos died in 1987 and Dora in June 2000.[13] [14] She kept up correspondence with her brother Giorgos for most of her life.[6]

Tsatsou died in 2000 at age 91.[3]

Works

Notes and References

  1. Demos . Jean . Untitled review . Books Abroad . 1969 . 43 . 2 . 300–301 . 10.2307/40123506 . Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma . JSTOR. 40123506 .
  2. News: AP . Constantine Tsatsos, Ex-Greek President And a Philosopher . New York Times . October 9, 1987 . ProQuest . D19.
  3. Book: Notice de personne . BNF Catalogue général . Bibliothèque nationale de France . 2022-07-19 . 2022-06-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220605180712/https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb119271932 . live .
  4. Web site: Tsatsou Ioanna (Seferis) . Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center . Yad Vashem . 2022-07-19 . 2022-07-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220719231751/https://righteous.yadvashem.org/?searchType=righteous_only&language=en&itemId=4017942&ind=NaN . live .
  5. News: NAMES IN THE NEWS: Israel Honors Greece's Tsatsou . Los Angeles Times . February 22, 1990 . ProQuest . 9.
  6. García Amoros . Maila . Georges Seferis' youth through his correspondence with his sister Ioanna Seferiadi: 1919-1924 . Erytheia: Revista de estudios bizantinos y neogriegos . 2015 . 36 . 207–229 . English . 0213-1986 . 2022-07-19 . 2022-07-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220719231751/https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5709679 . live .
  7. Mason . David . Comment: Letter from Turkey . The Hudson Review . Summer 2002 . 55 . 2 . 182–193 . ProQuest. 10.2307/3852978 . 3852978 .
  8. García Amorós . Maila . La participación de la mujer en las distintas formas de resistencia durante la ocupación de Grecia por las fuerzas del Eje (1940-1944) . Millars: Espai i Història . June 2020 . 157 . 48 . 162 . 10.6035/Millars.2020.48.7 . Women's participation in distinct forms of resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece (1940-1944) . ProQuest . 226702227 . Spanish. free . 10234/188887 . free .
  9. García Amorós . Maila . La participación de la mujer en las distintas formas de resistencia durante la ocupación de Grecia por las fuerzas del Eje (1940-1944) . Millars: Espai i Història . June 2020 . 157 . 48 . 161 . 10.6035/Millars.2020.48.7 . Women's participation in distinct forms of resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece (1940-1944) . ProQuest . 226702227 . Spanish. free . 10234/188887 . free .
  10. García Amorós . Maila . La participación de la mujer en las distintas formas de resistencia durante la ocupación de Grecia por las fuerzas del Eje (1940-1944) . Millars: Espai i Història . June 2020 . 157 . 48 . 163 . 10.6035/Millars.2020.48.7 . Women's participation in distinct forms of resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece (1940-1944) . ProQuest . 226702227 . Spanish. free . 10234/188887 . free .
  11. Book: Merry . Bruce . Encyclopedia of modern Greek literature . 2004 . Greenwood Press . 9780313308130 . 440.
  12. Web site: Jeanne Tsatsos . Académie française . French . 2022-07-19 . 2022-07-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220706134446/https://www.academie-francaise.fr/jeanne-tsatsos . live .
  13. News: Obituary: Greek dancer dies of cancer at 68 . Kingston Whig - Standard . June 17, 2000 . ProQuest . 34.
  14. News: Ex-president of Greece Tsatsos, at 88; a scholar and a politician . Providence Journal . October 9, 1987 . ProQuest . C-03.

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