Rallou Karatza

Who was Rallou Karatza?

Princess Rallou Karatza was a Greek actress, theatre director, translator and participant in the Greek War of Independence.

Born daughter of the Greek prince John Caradja of Wallachia, then part of the Ottoman Empire, she had an early interest for theatre, both the theatre from antiquity and modern theatre. She became the founder of the first theater in Bucharest called "Cişmeaua Roşie", 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. Married to George Argyropoulos, she died on the 16th April 1870 in Thornberg near Leipzig.