Rallou Karatza

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Rallou Karatza (Greek: Ραλλού Καρατζά; 1778-1830) was a Greek actress, theatre director, translator and participant in the Greek War of Independence.

Born daughter of a Greek prince in Wallachia, then part of the Ottoman Empire, she had an early interest for theatre, both the theatre from antiquity and modern theatre, and became the first Greek woman to found a Greek theatre troupe formed by students from the Greek School in Bucharest. She became a member of the secret group Filiki Eteria, which worked for the independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire, and became a great weapon in the propaganda for Greek independence through the plays she performed on stage. She translated and directed plays from Western Europe and gave scholarships for actors to study in Paris. She moved to Athens in 1829.

[edit] References

• Jennifer S. Uglow, The Macmillan Dictionary of Women's Biography.