Portrait of a Greek Smyrna Lady: Efthalia Kokkinogenis ΕΥΘΑΛΙΑ ΚΟΚΚΙΝΟΓΕΝΗ

I have posted a beautiful photograph of my great-grandmother, Efthalia Kokkinogenis, who lived her life in Smyrna, and, unfortunately, lost her life at a very young age there. Daughter of Vasiliki, my great-great grandmother, wife of Manolis Kokkinogenis, my great-grandfather, and mother of Maria Kokkinogenis, my grandmother (later Maria Coroneos, wife of Christoforos Coroneos of Cairo, Egypt), my great-grandmother, Efthalia, lived a brief but happy life, with her husband Manoli, who owned a large cafe in Smyrna, and daughter Maria.

Efthalia gave birth to two children, one of them being daughter Maria, but, tragically lost her baby son, and never had any other children. Efthalia passed away at the age of thirty-three, leaving her husband Manoli widowed. Manoli never remarried after his wife's death, and vowed to look after his daughter Maria. He did this with the able assistance of his mother-in-law, Vasiliki, and her sister, Stelia Skouros. Maria's time with her father was also cut short, though, as Manoli died as the result of an accident, and, Maria had now lost both of her parents. Thereafter, Maria was raised by her loving maternal grandmother, Vasiliki, and Maria's Aunt Stelia, who did their very best to help Maria adjust to the loss of both her parents, and provide a safe, nurturing and loving home for Maria.