Lili Bita, renowned Greek author and actress, died on February 12 in Philadelphia after a tragic accident. A powerhouse of talent, Lili left her mark on all of the people who saw her perform, who read one of her twenty-one books, or who knew her as a wonderfully loyal and engaging friend. She was a prominent figure in the cultural life of Philadelphia and the tristate area for thirty years, and was internationally acclaimed as an actress.
In an age of women seeing equality all levels, Bita lived ahead of the curve. She was born on the Greek island of Zakinthos, the daughter of George Bitas, a Greek army general who fought in the Albanian campaign of 1940 and against the German invaders. In a 2015 interview produced here in English for the first time, Bita spoke with trademark candor.
“My father was in the military. I grew up in a very sterile environment. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Don’t speak to men. I go to Greece every year and I see a difference. The women are now much freer. The women are taking revenge after all the years of being held down and being treated like second-class citizens. It used to be that a woman got her identity, her existence, through a man. Now we don’t need men. Freedom!
“Greek women are survivors, through our passion and our sufferings. Now lately we are free to be ourselves, to travel, to go to universities, to have jobs. To say – I like that. I will do that. Before, we did not have permission to say these words. Now I can say, I want that. Before, we did not dare to speak, because of our families and our culture.
“I can speak about myself to my husband. My mother did not dare. She always had to be inferior. Nobody encouraged me, including my mother. When I decided to be an actress, I signed up to compete for the Miss Greece title. My relatives told me that I would dishonor the family, and I had to write a letter and resign from the competition. Relatives said, you should be ashamed. I left and came to America, but how many can do that? Not many. There were many more talented women who stayed there and died from lack of inspiration.”
Despite her hard-won struggle for self-realization, she credited Greece for making her who she was. “Greek women are the heroines,” she said. “They inspire the men and the country. They work hard. I left Greece because artistic women were considered stupid women. Their role when I was growing up was to stay home. But as Greeks, we have a tremendous resource. The Greek mountains. The Greek sea. The Greek sky. The Greek history. It gives us the power to fight the difficult things we meet. I find that as the years go by that my Greek culture gave me the power to fight and win. Greek culture gave me strength and inspiration.”
Bita received degrees from the Greek Conservatory of Music, and the Athens School of Drama. In 1959, she immigrated to the United States with her son, the late Philip Rethis, and became a naturalized citizen in 1969. She earned a MA in Drama from the University of Miami in 1976.
Lili toured widely with her one-woman shows, “The Greek Woman Though the Ages,” and “Freedom or Death.” She taught and gave master classes in more than 50 American universities including Villanova University, and was Artist in Residence at Drexel University. In 1995 she toured India under the auspices of the Greek government, and returned there as part of the World Shakespeare Conference in 2002.
Her verse has been translated into French, German, Spanish and Bengali. In 2014, she was elected to the Hellenic Authors Society, the oldest and most prestigious literary society in Greece.
Bita’s admirers included author Anais Nin. In a preface to her Furies, Nin wrote: “Lili Bita transcends the individual woman. Her experiences, love or hatred, birth or death, ecstasy or despair, become universal…human life and myth are lived simultaneously. Her vision is direct, unifying and complete.” When her first collection of short stories, Steps on the Earth, was published, Nikos Kazantzakis praised it for “its power and compassion.”
Her last six books were published by Somerset Hall press of Boston. These include her two memoirs, Sister of Darkness and The Storm Rider, and her collected love poems, Fleshfire.
Bita is survived by her husband, Dr. Robert Zaller, Distinguished University Professor of History at Drexel University, her son, Kimon Rethis of Northbridge, Cal., and her granddaughter, Athena.
On October 20, the Greek-American Writers Association will celebrate Bita’s life at a special program at the Cornelia Street Café in New York City.
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