Lili Zografou

In 1998, Zografou published her last work, Apo ti Mideia sti Stachtopouta, i istoria tou fallou (From Medea to Cinderella; the story of the phallus), a large scale essay on the origins of patriarchy in Greek society, examining the Hellenic World from prehistoric times to the Great Tragedians.

While on vacation in Heraklion in 1998, Zografou suffered a stroke; she died a few days later at Venizeleio General Hospital.

It took Lili Zografou five years to complete her book Epangelma porni (Occupation Whore) (1978). In this collection of shocking autobiographical stories, Zografou describes harsh personal experiences she had during the 7 year junta —mugging, suicide attempt and rape—, aiming to expose the patriarchal abusiveness of her time, as well as the Regime's oppressiveness.

In 1974, she published 17 Noemvri 1973 – I nichta tis megalis sfagis, a chronicle of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, which she had witnessed. Zografou completed this book by hiding every finished page of the manuscript inside of an encyclopedia; she lived next to the Greek Military Police headquarters at that time and the police's house-to-house enquiries were quite often.

After the fall of the junta in 1974, Zografou returned to journalism writing articles for Eleftherotypia and other newspapers and magazines.

In 1971, Zografou published her work O Iliopotis Elytis (Elytis the sun-drinker), a study on the poetry of Odyseas Elytis, who was later on awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Zografou contacted the eminent poet before publishing her essay, but, after reading the manuscript, Elytis made it clear that he did not approve of it and, in a way, forbade her to publish it. She eventually published her book, saddened but not deterred by Elytis' stance.

During Greece's Axis occupation, Zografou joined the Greek Resistance against the Nazis; she was imprisoned while pregnant and gave birth inside the jail. Zografou openly criticised the Greek military junta of 1967-1973; her book Epangelma Porni (Occupation Whore) was a scathing testimony exposing the oppressiveness of the Colonels' Regime.

Lili Zografou was working as a civil employee at the Ministry of Defence when the Greek military junta of 1967 was established. At the same time, she editorialised for the magazine Gynaika (Woman) promoting progressive ideas and women's rights, often openly criticising the Colonels' Regime.

Following her 1949 literary debut with the collection of novellas Agapi (Love), Zografou's treatise Nikos Kazantzakis: enas traghikos was published in 1959; Zografou examined Kazantzakis from a fresh viewpoint, focusing on his constant effort to become a superhuman and his problematic love life. Kazantzakis was generally revered as a luminary up until then, and Zografou's essay altered the way many people in Greece —especially youngsters— viewed his work.

After the liberation of Greece in 1944, Zografou worked as a journalist in renowned newspapers and journals. She also travelled in Europe and visited many countries of the Eastern Bloc. During the 1953-1954 biennium, Zografou lived in Paris.

Lili Zografou (/zɒˈɣrɑːfʊ/; Greek: Λιλή Ζωγράφου; June 17, 1922 – October 2, 1998) was a Greek journalist, novelist, dramatist, essayist, and political activist, best known for Nikos Kazantzakis: enas traghikos, her "destructive critique" of the work of Nikos Kazantzakis, published in 1959, three years after his death.

Lili Zografou was born in Heraklion, Crete in 1922, the daughter of Andreas Zografos, the publisher of the daily newspaper Anorthosis (Recovery); her passion for journalism and writing was ignited by her father's own love for this job.