Kyveli

Biography

Kyveli (full name: Kyveli Adrianou) (Greek: Κυβέλη Αδριανού, 1888 - 1978), was one of the greatest Greek stage actresses and for many years dominated together with her contemporary Marika Kotopouli. She was born in Smyrna and from her infancy she was under the protection of Demetrios Leonardos (a senior civil servant) and her adoptive parents, the shoemaker Anastasios Adrianou and his wife Maria, who worked at the Leonardou house and who had found the little Kyveli exposed in 1890, with a pendant around her neck that bore her name. Her theatrical talent developed spontaneously in the efforts s…