Cybele Andrianou

Cybele Andrianou(Greek:Κυβέλη Ανδριανού;13 July 1888 – 26 May 1978), also known by her stage nameCybele(Greek:Κυβέλη), was a Greek actress.

Cybele Andrianou
Born	(1888-07-13)13 July 1888 Smyrna,Aidin Vilayet,Ottoman Empire
Died	26 May 1978(1978-05-26)(aged 89) Athens,Greece
Nationality	Greek
Occupation	Actress
Spouses	Mitsos Myrat ​ ​ (m.1903;div.1906)​ Kostas Theodoridis Georgios Papandreou
Children	4 (includingMiranda Myrat)

She was born on 13 July 1888 to an unmarried couple inSmyrnaand spent the first two years of her life in anAthensorphanage.At the age of two-and-a-half, she was adopted by Anastasis and Maria Andrianou. The family of a famous Athenian lawyer of the time, who had recently lost their only child, helped Cybele's adoptive parents financially. In 1901, at the age of 13, she received her first award for her stage performance.

There is a statue honouring her inPagratiGrove, Athens.

Career

Cybele was one of the main actresses of Nea Skini from 1901 to 1906. There, she had the chance to perform the only roles of her life based on ancient Greektragedy:Euripides'AlcestisandSophocles'Antigone.She later became known for her performances in plays ofLeo Tolstoy,Carlo GoldoniandHenrik Ibsen.In 1908, she worked for the first time withGregorios Xenopoulos,who wrote her the theatric playThe Red Rock(Ο Κόκκινος Βράχος), based his short novel written of the same name. The play was of huge success, and was repeated by Cybele's theatrical group for many years to come. Xenopoulos continued to write her at least one play a year, until 1925. Cybele also worked withPantelis Horn(the father ofDimitris Horn) from 1910 to 1934. In 1932, she joined forces withMarika Kotopouli,her "stage enemy", in order to compete the newly founded National Theater of Greece. After theGerman invasion,she fled along with her husband,George Papandreou,and the Greek government and royal family to the Middle East. After the war, she returned in Greece and performed various roles with the National Theater, accompanied byEllie Lambeti,Dimitris Horn, Mitsos Myrat and other famous actors and actresses. The summer of 1951 she made her only appearance in an ancient Greekcomedy,inAristophanes'Lysistrata.Cybele appeared in only two films during her career, in 1933 and 1956.

Personal life

Cybele's first husband was Mitsos Myrat, with whom she continued to work on stage after their divorce. They had two children: a son, Alexandros "Alekos" and a daughter,Miranda(also rendered as Miranta) (1906-1994). She later married a prominent businessman, Kostas Theodoridis. They had a daughter, Aliki. Her third husband wasGeorge Papandreou,laterPrime Minister.They had one son, Georgios. When Cybele died, in 1978, at the age of 89, she had 4 children, 3 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. Miranda's daughter, Kyveli Theohari, was also an actress. The actress Rita Myrat (née Tarsouli) was her daughter-in-law being the wife of her son Alekos.

External links

Media related toKyveli Andrianouat Wikimedia Commons