Spanudi, Sofia

Sophia Spanudi ( Greek Σοφία Σπανούδη , nee Ioannidi , Greek Ιωαννίδη ; 1878 , Constantinople - 1952 , Athens ) - Greek journalist, music critic and teacher.

She graduated from the Dresden Conservatory as a pianist. In her youth, she taught piano in Constantinople, among her students were Manolis Kalomiris and Melpo Merlier ; in the creative development of Kalomiris Spanudi played a particularly large role ^[1] . She was also invited to Yildiz Palace to give lessons to Princess Naim , one of the daughters of the last Turkish Sultan Abdul-Hamid II ; about her work in the palace and her impressions of the life of women in the court at sunset of the empire, she wrote slightly fictionalized memoirs “In the Palace of Hamid” ( Greek Στα παλάτια του Χαμίτ ; 1935, separate edition 2009) ^[2] . In 1910, she married a journalist and politician Konstantinos Spanudis .

In 1922, together with her husband, she was forced to leave Turkey, lived and worked in Athens. At the invitation of her student, Kalomiris taught at the Greek Conservatory , then professor at the National Conservatory since its foundation in 1926. For many years she was one of the most influential music critics in Greece, in 1942 she welcomed the debut performance of Maria Callas (noting, however, that “she the majestic dramatic soprano has not yet fully formed ”) ^[3] , however, she spoke of the concert from the works of Nikos Skalkotas in 1930, in a note without a signature, as a“ barbarian invasion ” ^[4] .

In 1932, she traveled to Turkey as a correspondent for the Πρωΐα newspaper, making a series of interviews. Selected ones compiled the book “Letters from Constantinople” ( Greek Γράμματα από την Πόλη ; 2009) ^[5] .

Daughter, Athena Spanudi (1921-1998) - radio host.