Elizabeth Vakalidou - Μπέττυ

1979, 2007, Elizabeth Vakalidou, Georges Burou, Greek,

Original title: "Μπέττυ" (Betty) by Elizabeth Vakalidou (Ελισάβετ Βακαλίδου), published in 1979. The book was republished in 2007 with the title "Μπέττυ, Καπετάνιος της Ψυχής μου" (Betty, Captain of My Soul).

This book is the story of Elizabeth Vakalidou, also known as Betty, born in 1950, a Greek transgender woman, one of the best-known transgender people in Greece, who publicly promoted her identity and fought for gay and intersex rights. She participated in the founding of the first Greek homosexual organization in Greece, the A.K.O.E. (Greek Gay Liberation Movement), authored two autobiographical books, and appeared in theater and cinema productions. She was also nominated as "Person of the Year" (2007) during the "European Year of Equal Opportunities for All".

According to Wikipedia, Vakalidou was born Pericles Vakalidis in Feres, Evros in 1950, the last of five boys in a farmer family. From about the pre-puberty period and when she began to discover her sexuality, she realized that she was attracted to people of the same sex. These preferences soon became known to the close environment of the village and provoked the wrath of the Vakalidis family. Thus, Betty became the victim of verbal and physical abuse and humiliation, which led her to leave her father's home, stop school, and take refuge in Athens at the age of 15.

In July 1965, after a short stay in Alexandroupolis (where she worked with one of her brothers) and Thessaloniki, she settled in Athens, where she worked in various occasional jobs. On February 16, 1966, Betty was arrested and imprisoned in the Juvenile Reformatory on charges of vagrancy. The confinement took place at the request of the family, which completely and permanently broke off contact with her. She remained in juvenile prisons until she was 18 years old when she was released from prison due to reaching adulthood. At that time, out of admiration for the then-up-and-coming actress, Betty Arvaniti, she adopted her female name. 

After leaving the reformatory in 1969, she worked on cargo ships, resided in New York, and finally, returned for permanent residence in Greece in 1972. From 1974 she worked illegally as a call girl, one of the first trans women to use Syggrou Avenue (where until then there were only cisfemale call girls). In 1977, she became involved in the LGBT movement, taking part in the first major public appearance of LGBT people in Greece. In 1970, her autobiography was published, a text that shook the public mores of the time but also became a great publishing success. Despite this, the book was declared obscene and both the author and the publishing house were sentenced to a redeemable sentence of seven months in prison.

The book was adapted into a short film by director Dimitris Stavrakas, entitled "Betty", in which she starred, and was even awarded by the Critics Association at the Drama and Thessaloniki Film Festivals. In 1984 she underwent gender reassignment surgery in Casablanca and moved away from social struggles, while at the same time she began a career in theater and cinema. At the same time, she worked in brothels until 2000 when she left the profession for good.

Available via skroutz.gr

and Wikipedia