CHrysanthi Zitsaia

Chrysanthi Zitsaia (pen name of Chrysanthi Lambrou Oikonomidou, née Zerva) was born in Brindisi, Italy, in 1902, but grew up in her parents' village, Zitsa. She completed her schooling and married the Cypriot agronomist Lambros Oikonomidis at a young age. The early years of her married life were spent in Ioannina and Volos, where she published her first poetry collection, "Violet Twilights." From 1930, she settled permanently in Thessaloniki, where she lived for the rest of her life until July 1995. In Thessaloniki, Zitsaia was an active member of the city's literary and social life from the very beginning of her residence there. She was particularly involved with the literary magazine "Morphes" during both its interwar and postwar periods, and she published her first books during this time, receiving critical acclaim. Besides poetry (she published twenty-seven poetry collections), she also engaged in prose and children's literature. She was a founding member of the Thessaloniki Literary Society, participating in its events even at an advanced age. She was also a founding member of the Thessaloniki Branch of the Association of Greek Writers (1954), the Lyceum of Greek Women of Thessaloniki, the Macedonian Philological and Educational Society, the Association of Intellectual Women, the Panhellenic Women's Union, and the Greece-Cyprus Friendship Association, where she served as president for sixteen years. In addition to her contributions to Cyprus, she devoted a significant part of herself to issues and problems of the Epirus region; she never forgot her ancestral roots and collaborated with the magazine "Epirotiki Estia" and actively participated in various events related to the area.