KIVELLI
ANDRIANOU ΚΥΒΕΛΗ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟΥ
Born 1888
Died 1978
Section 14, Number 13
In an era when the prevailing belief was that women should stay home and
look after the family, when there was little or no support for women’s
education. When advocates like Kalliroi Parren were beginning the struggle for
women’s rights in Greece, two women stand out: Kivelli Adrianou and MarikaKotopouli. These two, both titans of Greek theatre, were in the vanguard of
liberation as leaders of their own theatrical companies, as free spirits, and
as savvy business women. Both are buried in The First Cemetery. This is the
story of Kivelli Adrianou, a woman
who was so well known when she died that only her first name (also her stage name) was placed on her grave
stele.
Her Life
Kivelli was born in 1884, or 1887 or was it 1888? This last date is the one on her grave monument. The year of her birth is not the only mystery surrounding her life. Myth and rumour would always swirl around her. A poor shoemaker named Anastasios Adrianos and his wife Maria adopted her, and there are two accounts of how that happened. One story has Maria finding her abandoned. Another has it that Maria discovered her at a foundling hospital and immediately fell in love. When Kivelli became famous, another rumour circulated that she was the love child of Greece’s King George.
Her step mother Maria claimed that, when found, she was wearing a cross engraved with the name Kivelli. This name is best translated into English as Cybele who in mythology was the great mother goddess of the Phrygians. It was an apt name for a woman who became a goddess to her many fans!
After this humble beginning, life got better. Maria Adrianou worked in the home of the well off lawyer Demitrios Leonardos. Having lost his own son, he took an interest in Kivelli and he and his wife helped to raise her. She grew up in the Athenian district of Agios Pandeleimenas with the economic support of the Leonardos family and attended the excellent Hill School in the Plaka.
 Kivelli at a young age in her garden |
Perhaps their intention was that she pursue a
conventional career. At one point she was sent to a milliner to learn the hat trade.
But it was already too late. As her step mother said, she already had a ‘devil’
inside her telling her that acting was a much more alluring choice. Kivelli had
been taking speech lessons from the well known Markos Sigalas and, in a recital
of Mr Sigalas’ students in 1901 at the Parnassos Society (1) Givelli shared the first prize.
That very same year she enrolled in the Drama School of the Royal Theatre. Her timing could not have been better. The school had been funded by the wealthy merchant Efstratios Rallis and had just opened its doors the year before as had the Royal Theatre itself. This impressive edifice at 22 Agios Constantinos Street was designed by Ernst Ziller and the king was its patron. It was an ambitious project because Greece was in financial difficulties at the time, but the theatre was meant to be a showcase, an important cultural vehicle for disseminating the brand of patriotic Hellenism that the Greek elite were so intent on promoting at the time.
It is still there but became the National Theatre of Greece in 1932
A
Small Digression on the Royal Theatre and the Issues facing Theatres at the
Turn of the Century
According to this cultural model, all roads must lead back in an unbroken line to ancient Greece. Therefore, it was considered imperative that any ancient Greek play presented was to be in its original form, a form of Greek not understood by the majority of citizens at the time. When in 1903, katharevousa phrases were inserted into a prose rendition of Aeschylusʼ Oresteia at the Royal Theatre, a riot ensued. It was fomented by an irate university professor who considered such efforts traitorous. His students stormed into the theatre during a performance and in the resulting melee, at least one person was killed and several wounded. The rioters did not necessarily represent the public at large. Many had been happily attending performances for two weeks prior to the attack.
According to this cultural model, all roads must lead back in an unbroken line to ancient Greece. Therefore, it was considered imperative that any ancient Greek play presented was to be in its original form, a form of Greek not understood by the majority of citizens at the time. When in 1903, katharevousa phrases were inserted into a prose rendition of Aeschylusʼ Oresteia at the Royal Theatre, a riot ensued. It was fomented by an irate university professor who considered such efforts traitorous. His students stormed into the theatre during a performance and in the resulting melee, at least one person was killed and several wounded. The rioters did not necessarily represent the public at large. Many had been happily attending performances for two weeks prior to the attack.
The Press, of course, avidly covered the riots.
This cultural divide between conservatives and want-to-be progressives was the backdrop for Kivelli’s entry into the theatre world. The Drama School itself was short lived. It was closed just months after its inception; many considered it too risqué! Being an actress was not quite respectable. (The Royal Theatre itself would close its doors in 1908 because of lack of funds, but that is another story)
Happily for the young Kivelli, a new type of theatre was emerging at the same moment:
The New Stage (Νεα Σκηνη) 1901-5
The concept had originated in Berlin at the Free Theatre which had began promoting works that had previously been censored or considered too avant garde. The movement spread in Europe and appealed to the Vienna based writer Constantinos Christomanos (Κωνσταντίνος Χρηστομάνος). When he returned to Greece, his aim was to persuade other like-minded intellectuals to join him in a new and modern venture. Under his aegis, that the New Stage came into being in 1901 and was endorsed by luminaries such as Costis Palamas, Pavlos Nirvanas, and Grigoris Xenopoulos.
Christomanos rented the former Omonias Theatre in the square of the same name just a few steps away from the Royal Theatre which had just signed on Marika Kotopouli, the actress who would become Kivelli’s greatest rival.
Maria Kotopouli
The New Stage presented productions by the likes of Ibsen, Chekov, Goldini, works which were being introduced in Greece for the first time. It stressed naturalism to its productions, emphasized scenery and costume as an important element of the plays, and heightened the role of the director. The idea was to promote new Greek playwrights writing in demotic Greek. During its four years of life, the New Stage attracted wonderful talent: Angelos Sikelianos (Άγγελος Σικελιανόs), Mitsos Marat (Μήτσος Μυράτ), and Theonis Drakopoulou (Θεώνη Δρακοπούλου).
It was at the New Stage that Kivelli made her debut - in the balcony scene of Romio and Juliet. She was just 14! She quickly became the theatre’s greatest attraction, and played in Euripedes’ Alcestis, Sophocles’ Antigone, and many modern works. Kivelli had charisma off the stage as well. Like so many men in her life, Christomanos was smitten; he sang her praises to all and sundry and would refer to her as his theatrical muse – quite an accolade for a teenager!
Kivelli during the years she acted at the New Stage
Her First Marriage
Fellow actor Mitsos Marat (1878 -1964) fell passionately in love with Kivelli and, although she apparently did not return the favour, she did agree to marry him in 1903. (She would have been 19, 18, or possibly 15!) He was 25.
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Murat
as a young man looking rather Oscar Wilde -ish |
Their son Alexandros was born in 1905. 1906 saw the birth of their daughter Miranda. During this time, the New Stage closed its doors; it had not met its investors’
expectations
After the birth of Miranda, Givelli suffered from puerperal fever and almost died. She was still under 20. This near-death experience made her decide, as she put it herself, to really live her life (να ζήσει τη ζωή της). Shortly thereafter she met wealthy merchant Costas Theodoridis (Κώστας Θεοδωρίδης). Flirtation led to passion and, when Theodoridis suggested going to Paris together, Kivelli abandoned her husband and children and followed him. A great scandal ensued.
Handsome Kostas Theodoridis
|
Newspapers were full of the ‘elopement’’ of Kivelli.
“The day will come when she will pay you with the same coinage” asserted Murat darkly to Theodoridis.
The Second Marriage
During their stay in Paris, her daughter Aliki was born.
 |
Kivelli
at the time of her relationship with Theodoridis
Exactly when she divorced Murat and married
Theodoridis is not known but the birth of her daughter was likely the driving
force.
In 1907 she was ready to brave any negative press and return to Athens.
The Prodigal Returns
Upon her return, she appeared in Jules Renard’s Carrot Top, taking on a male role. In this play, she managed to endear herself to audiences and all her sins were forgiven!
During 1907, Kivelli began her own theatre company
under the directorship of Theodoridis who handled the legal and business aspect
of the troupe. Her role as Nora in Ibsen’s A Doll’s
House – a play that was very daring for the times – was a great success.
 |
Kivelli as Nora
From 1908 the writer Grigoris Xenopoulos (Γρηγόρης Ξενόπουλος) worked together with Givelli and wrote one successful play after
another for her: at least one play a year until 1925! She also
worked with Pantelis Horn. She had become a fixture in the theatre world.
|
 |
Grigoris
Xenopoulos
Kivelli Versus Kotopouli
Givelli and Marika Kotopouli were the two stars whom everyone followed during
this era and it is likely that their competition encouraged each of them to
strive for their best performances. A rivalry like this was a publicist’s dream;
it enhanced their careers and kept the newspapers
busy.
The theatre going public split almost evenly into avid fans of blond, tall, and beautiful Kivelli or fans of short , dark, and mesmerising Kotopouli! This rivalry had a political dimension. Kivelli was a Venizelist; Kotopouli was a royalist at a time when these words aroused strong passions. They found themselves involved in a small civil war in which their every move was interpreted as a battle reflecting the divisions in Athenian society itself. Both camps were armed with critics, spies, and armchair generals. At times they even premiered the very same play on the same day!
Back to 1908
In 1908, her long suffering first husband, Mitsos Murat, made a move that disturbed Kivelli greatly. He married Chrisoula the sister of Marika Kotopouli and he joined Marika’s theatre company! Many saw his decision to marry as the hallmark of a very sophisticated revenge.
1916: Kivelli, the First World War and the National Schism:
In 1916, Kivelli supported the Venizelists’ wish to join the allies, against the German leaning King. This resulted in her banishment from the stage for a time. She went into a short exile in Paris where she became acquainted with Venizelos who was himself in temporary exile. Of course rumours flew of an affair between the two. Rumours always flew around Kivelli.
Then: 1920 and Chios
Kivelli, along with Theodoridis and their troupe went to Chios Island for three performances. On the opening night, the island’s then governor, Georgios Papandreau, went backstage to congratulate the star. This encounter was to start the chain of events that led to marriage number three. Kivelli decided to remain on the island. She and Papandreau became inseparable. Theodoridis returned to Athens and immediately moved out of their home.
It happened that quickly. Georgios and Kivelli were the same age and believed they were true soul mates. Their relationship blossomed in spite of the fact that Papandreau’s wife had given birth to their son Andreas on Chios only the year before. (2) If this were a play instead of real life, I would be tempted to call this segment “Chaos in Chios”. Of course, it would be a melodrama.
 |
Georgios Papandreau, Aliki, Kivelli, and Pandelis
Horn on Chios
|
‘’If
I had never met Georgios, I would never have known what love was’’ Kivelli
claimed . When asked what had attracted her to Papandreau she replied that they
both knew the works of Gripari off by heart. Georgios Papandreau was not a
handsome man, but he was a poetic one, apparently wooing women with poems – just
not always the same poem and not always the same woman.
In the following years, Kivelli concentrated on Papandreau and on her two daughters, Miranda and Aliki, who were both starting careers in the theatre.
The couple did not marry right away. In 1923,
Georgios had become the Minister of the Interior in Greece and was weighing the
political cost of asking his wife for a divorce. His subsequent arrest and
exile in Naxos by a new regime in Athens may have come at an opportune moment
in the sense that it put his marriage dilemma on the back burner for a time.
But, in 1927, Kivelli was pregnant and that forced his hand. He wrote to his wife asking for a divorce. Meanwhile, he and Kivelli went to Switzerland in the hopes of keeping her pregnancy a secret. Their child, Georgios, was born on the 26th of June, 1927. The birth certificate had the correct name of the father but listed his wife Sofia as the mother since she was still Papandreau’s legal wife!
Back in Greece and the 1930s
Although Venizelos and Papandreau, who was by then Education Minister, had promised Kivelli a theatre to be built in Klathmonas Square in central Athens, it never happened because the funds could not be found. So, in 1931, when her rival Marika Kotopouli suggested that they put on a production together with each of them in starring roles, the idea appealed. The play was Mary Stuart and offered two juicy starring roles, that of Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth. Against the advice of both her husband and of Venizelos, she and Marika joined forces that year and again in 1934.
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Kotopouli, Kivelli and playwright Spiros Melas
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But because Papandreau was insistent that she not continue
her career, Kivelli retired from the stage except for a 1942 appearance in a Spiros
Melas play produced by her daughter Miranda’s company.
All during her years with Papandreau, Kivelli’s finances were handled by her second husband, Costas Theodoridis and she led a very comfortable life. She was even able to help Georgios’ son Andreas (a future prime minister of Greece as head of the PASOK party) during his studies in the United States. Theodoridis was not just a faithful accountant; he was, by all accounts, a good and loving father to all four of Kivelli’s children.
The
War and the End of Love
In 1943, Kivelli and Papandreau escaped Greece for the Middle East where he joined the government in exile. They returned only after the Germans had withdrawn in 1944. But the once great love affair was well and truly over. Georgios had a roving eye, and she was 56, fine for a man in those days, but hard on a woman. She would return to her home in Kifissia and he would make his home in Kastri, continue his political career, and take up with Chilean singer Rosita Serano.
They never divorced.
On Her Own but Not Alone
On her own again, Kivelli co-operated once more with Marika Kotopouli. At the time Kotopouli’s company was readying the French comedy Les Enfants d’Eduard in which Kotopouli was to star. Marika did all she could to persuade Kivelli to return to the stage. At the last minute, she did in the role of mother Denise. It was 1950; Kivelli was 62 years old but her public were still loyal.
In 1953 she appeared with the National Theatre in one of her most popular roles in Xenopoulos’ The Secret of Contessa Balerena. She also performed in two cinema productions. (3)
She continued working until 1965.
In November 1968, Georgios Papandreau died. It was during the military dictatorship in Greece. Although the government made the expected offer (he had been Prime Minister of the country on three different occasions) to bury him at public expense, Kivelli rejected the overture as a protest and took on the funeral costs herself. His funeral occasioned a huge public protest against the regime.
Kivelli died in 1978. She was surrounded by her four children, three grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. She chose to be buried apart from Papandreau. In a way, it seems fitting and, not just because they had been separated for so many years. It was a way of stating, in no uncertain terms, that she was very much her own woman.
Kivelli at
home with family members
The Map
Footnotes
(1) The Parnassos Society was begun in 1865 as a
society to promote culture and by 1890 was housed in a glorious neoclassical
pile that is still there on Karytsi Square in central Athens. It is worth a
visit. The society is still going strong too.
(2) Andreas
Papandreau would become the leader of Pasok and Prime minister of Greece. His
relationship with his father was precarious- no doubt due to the affair with Kivelli
and the abandonment of his mother, Sofia.
(3) For a
detailed description of her works in English see
Sources
1. Κυβέλη: Μια γυναίκα με πάθη του Γεωργίου Σαρηγιάννη (26/06/ 2010)
https://www.tanea.gr/2010/06/26/lifearts/culture/kybeli-mia-gynaika-me-pathi/ .2. Το Ρόδο της Μοίρας, https://kyveli.eu my footnote on the langiage riots- the Oresteia,
3. Ζευγάρια που έγραψαν την ιστορία της Ελλάδας, της Λένα Διβάνη, εκδόσεις Πατάκη
4.A Program on Givelli in Greek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=747&v=Mt1mG5xhb68&feature=emb_title
5. The voice of Givelli: https://www.flogasport.gr/40-%CF%87%CF%81%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CE%B1%CF%80%CF%8C-%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BD-%CE%B8%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%BF-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%BA%CF%85%CE%B2%CE%AD%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B4/
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