Elisabeth (Lulu) Theotoky

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Elisabeth-Lulu Theotoky (Greek: Ελισάβετ-Λουλού Θεοτόκη) (20 July 1924 - 5 December 2013) was a choreographer and folk art researcher. She was a descendant of an old and noble political Corfiot family. Her father, Ioannis Theotokis, her grand-father Georgios Theotokis, as well as her cousin George Rallis have served as prime ministers of Greece. At an early age, she decided that politics was not for her and studied dance and choreography in Athens under the tutelage of Koula Pratsika and then in New York. In 1965, she established the first dance school in Corfu, Greece, and later in 1969 the 'Corfu Dance Theatre' (Greek: Κερκυραϊκό Χορόδραμα). Later on she has was involved with Corfiot folklore and gathered a vast and important collection of traditional costumes from all over Greece. This collection was donated in 1997 to the National Historical Museum of Athens[1]. In 1993, she was honoured with the silver medal of the Rotary Club of Corfu [2] and, in 2006, with the medal of the Red Cross, for her continuing work as President of the Corfu Branch of the Greek Red Cross.

Theotoky has published three books:

  • 'Costumes from Corfu, Paxos and the Offshore Islands' (1994, ISBN 960-220-706-X),
  • 'Corfu Town Costumes'(1998, ISBN 960-7062-83-3) and
  • 'The Children of Corfu' (2006, ISBN 960-395-040-8).