A great love affair

Until 1920, Kyveli and Kostas Theodoridis had led a life full of theatre. Their marriage would come to an end when, while on tour on the island of Chios, she would meet the then Governor of the island and future Prime Minister of Greece, Georgios Papandreou.

Pantelis Horn, then a naval officer stationed on the island, informed Kyveli that their repertoire was censored and that they would not be able to stage all the plays in the programme in order to avoid rousing the already heated political spirits; “Says who?”, Kyveli asked incensed. “Georgios Papandreou”, answered her playwright friend. “And who is this Georgios Papandreou?”, asked Kyveli and insisted upon meeting the insolent governor who dared interfere in her business.

“Had I not met Giorgis I would never have known what love is” she later confessed. When asked what had attracted her to the talented young politician she said “he knew the poet Gryparis by heart. Like me […]”.

There began a tempestuous illicit affair that weathered many storms since it involved two people who, in their respective fields marked the history of modern Greece and who, due to their prominence, endured great pressures regarding their personal choices.

They would eventually marry at the end of the decade, having already had a son, Giorgakis Papandreou, who was Kyveli’s last and favourite child.