Athens, Greece. Paola Revenioti, the Greek publisher, photographer and filmmaker, has died at the age of 68 after a months-long battle with cancer. She was a central figure in Greece’s LGBTQI+ movement and campaigned for visibility and acceptance from the late 1970s.
Activism and publishing
Revenioti worked for decades as a sex worker. In 1981, she began publishing KRAXIMO, a magazine of homosexual expression, and in the 1990s she organised some of the first Pride events in Athens, a development described as revolutionary for Greek society at the time.
Documentary work and political activity
Over the past decade, Revenioti focused mainly on documentary filmmaking with the Paola Team Documentaries group, covering historical, social and political themes centred on people on the margins of society. She also worked as a radio producer at RADIOMeRA.
Revenioti joined the left-wing MeRA25 party in 2019 and stood as a candidate in the 2023 Athens A constituency elections, the June 2023 national list and the 2024 European elections.
Announcement of her death
Journalist Danae Maragoudaki announced Revenioti’s death in a Facebook post, saying she left behind “one of the most important chapters” in queer community history. Maragoudaki, writing alongside co-signatories Eliza Triantafyllou and Vasilis Thanasis, said that through KRAXIMO, her photographs and her documentaries, Revenioti had steadfastly defended freedom and life itself.
Maragoudaki said further details on the funeral would follow later in the day.
Reflections in an earlier interview
In an earlier interview with NEWS24/7’s Panos Kodonas, Revenioti reflected on changing attitudes over recent decades. She said trans people had once been celebrated despite the marginalisation they faced 30 to 40 years ago, adding that gentrification had since changed what society considered acceptable.
She criticised what she described as a hypocritical society, saying people had become anonymous and had forgotten how to live and fall in love. She also spoke about her son, saying she was especially proud of him and that he had chosen her rather than the other way round, knowing everything about her and loving her regardless.
