My grandma, the teacher

Had it not been a meticulously documented biography, it could easily pass for a historical novel.

The tumultuous life of Alexandra Manou unfolds against the sweeping backdrop of the 20th century’s great events. Yet the story begins earlier, through the lives of her parents, guiding us through Korçë, Kastoria, and Bucharest in the mid-19th century — an era shaped by the waning Ottoman Empire, the flourishing Greek communities of Romania, the Macedonian Struggle, and the eventual liberation of Northern Greece from Ottoman rule.

Alexandra Manou’s journey, tracing a path from Bucharest to Kastoria and finally to Athens, sketches the portrait of a rare and pioneering woman. A woman who fell abruptly from privilege into poverty and orphanhood, who pursued her studies under the patronage of Eleftherios Venizelos, who built a career, dared to leave behind the great love of her life by seeking a divorce at a time when such a choice was almost unthinkable, and who raised her child alone through years of relentless hard work.Through war, occupation, civil strife, and dictatorship, she remained undeterred — a spirit that refused surrender, ever setting new goals.

As a teacher, she helped shape a generation — her students at the Experimental School of the University of Athens would go on to leave their mark on modern Greek history — and she became the first Greek woman teacher to engage in union activism.

Drawing on the wealth of documents discovered after her death, her granddaughter lovingly brings to life the story of an extraordinary woman — the grandmother who helped raise her and whose indomitable spirit continues to inspire