A random collection of over 1910 books and audiobooks authored by or about my transgender, intersex sisters, and gender-nonconforming persons all over the world. I read some of them, and I was inspired by some of them. I met some of the authors and heroines, some of them are my best friends, and I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing some of them. If you know of any transgender biography that I have not covered yet, please let me know.
Original title: "Πρινσέζα" (Princess) by Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque and Maurizio Jannelli. The book is the Greek language edition of "Princesa" published in Italian in 1994.
According to Wikipedia, Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque (1963–2000), known as Princesa, was a Brazilian transgender woman. Born in the Brazilian countryside, she grew up without her father in a family with economic difficulties. At the age of seven, she is the victim of sexual abuse and later she leaves home. After a brief period as a kitchen assistant, she begins to prostitute herself in the big Brazilian cities, adopting the name of Guerra Princesa.
In 1988, after a brief stay in Spain, she moves to Italy. She begins to sell her body on the streets of Milan and becomes addicted to heroin. In 1990, she was arrested on charges of attempted murder of another call girl. In prison, she discovers that she has the AIDS virus.
1994,
Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque,
Greek,
Full title: "Γιατί δεν έχω σαν το δικό σου, μαμά" (Because I'm not like you, mom) by Άννα Κουρουπού (Anna Kouroupou).
Anna Kouroupou is an inspirational Greek woman, transgender rights activist, writer, blogger, the author of the biographical book titled “Γιατί δεν έχω σαν το δικό σου, μαμά” (2011).
In 2017, I interviewed Anna and asked her why she decided to write an autobiography: "It was clearly a personal need. The need to write down on a piece of paper, some pieces of my life which marked me, so as to discover the reasons for the psychological dead-end I found myself in. I carry great darkness within me, but I am always open to any beams of light. The publication was mostly due to the encouragement of my friends, that I had something to say. I couldn’t believe it; I was delightfully proven wrong.
2011,
Anna Kouroupou,
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".
1979,
2007,
Elizabeth Vakalidou,
Georges Burou,
Greek,
Original title: "Το ποτάμι γύρισε πίσω" (The river turned back) by Christina Baltzi (Χριστίνα Μπαλτζή)
In her 2011 interview for Tlife.gr, Christina Baltzi shared her feelings about being a transgender woman: 'The first time I realized I was different was when I saw my older sister naked, I went to my room mirror, undressed and said 'Why shouldn't I be like my sister?' Besides, I never felt like I was gay, I always felt like a woman. I could just hide it very well - even in the army where I served - and I didn't give anyone the right to say anything bad about me.'
'I am a woman. The river may turn back, but the course - whether upward or downward - takes you where you were created. I was created to experience the evolution of the species, the mutation, something beyond nature as we know it. In fact, in 30 years I lived 4 consecutive lives.'
2004,
Christina Christos Baltzi,
Greek,
Original title: "Το Ταξίδι της Ζωής μου" (The Journey of My Life) by Εύα Κουμαριανού (Eva Koumarianou).
'My name is Eva, Eva Koumarianou. They don't call me that exactly, but that's how I wanted it. And that's how all my friends and people around me know me.
It looks like you've only just started reading the first few pages of this book and I honestly couldn't promise you much. You know life has made me concentrate my wants in my own field of demands and give only what I can and you should respect that.
I am trans, transsexual, transvestite, roughly with these adjectives you can define me and, you hold in your hands my autobiography, that is, what I will let you see through the keyhole.
I know you would probably be attracted to the pink color. I'll give you that too, but in moderation you know. Because how can we do it, I'm trans, not a cardinal.
2012,
Eva Koumarianou,
Greek,
Original title: "Αίγλης και κρίσης γωνία" (Glamour and corner judgment) by Τζένη Χειλουδάκη (Jenny Cheiloudaki)
I am who I am; made of stars and light, darkness and lava; passion, mistakes and obsessions, dreams, stickiness, and crookedness; I love my being as it is; I accept it, I will not change for anyone, and anything - this is and will be my life, until the end.
Jenny Cheiloudaki is a Greek celebrity, a popular model of the 1990s, who became known to the general public through television and due to the social scandal caused by the publication of her love affair with the then Prosecutor of the First Instance of Rhodes.
She was born on February 21, 1968 in Sitia, Crete under the name Ioannis Cheiloudakis. In early adolescence, under the weight of dysphoria, she began the process of gender transition using hormones at the age of 13. She underwent gender reassignment surgery in London at the age of 20. She made a career in modeling, worked and ran brothels, while at the same time she was involved in writing books mainly of an autobiographical nature. She now lives in her family home in Sitia, having withdrawn from the spotlight.
2013,
Greek,
Jenny Cheiloudaki,
Original title: "Η Μαύρη βίβλος" (The Black Book) by Τζένη Χειλουδάκη (Jenny Cheiloudaki). The book was published in 2003 and republished in 2015,
23 forbidden chapters from the life of a creature who traveled, tasted, fell in love, enjoyed, lived to the extreme.
Jenny Cheiloudaki is a Greek celebrity, a popular model of the 1990s, who became known to the general public through television and due to the social scandal caused by the publication of her love affair with the then Prosecutor of the First Instance of Rhodes - Giorgos Sakellaropoulos, who met her while inspecting brothels in Rhodes. According to Wikipedia, the scandal and publicity were intended by Hiloudaki, and once Sakellaropoulos discovered she was transgender, he left her to return to his family.
2003,
2015,
Greek,
Jenny Cheiloudaki,
Original title: "Οι άγγελοι δεν έχουν φύλο" (Angels have no gender) by Τζένη Χειλουδάκη (Jenny Cheiloudaki)
Jenny Cheiloudaki is a Greek celebrity, a popular model of the 1990s, who became known to the general public through television and due to the social scandal caused by the publication of her love affair with the then Prosecutor of the First Instance of Rhodes.
She was born on February 21, 1968, in Sitia, Crete under the name Ioannis Cheiloudakis. In early adolescence, under the weight of dysphoria, she began the process of gender transition using hormones at the age of 13. She underwent gender reassignment surgery in London at the age of 20. She made a career in modeling, worked and ran brothels, while at the same time she was involved in writing books mainly of an autobiographical nature. She now lives in her family home in Sitia, having withdrawn from the spotlight.
2002,
Greek,
Jenny Cheiloudaki,
"Το τανγκό της Σανγκάης" (The Shanghai Tango) is the Greek language edition of "Tiǎozhàn shàngdì de cuò: Jīnxīng de wǔmèng rénshēng" - 挑戰上帝的錯：金星的舞夢人生 (Challenging God's Mistakes: Venus' Dancing Life), published by Jin Xing in 2004.
Jin Xing (Chinese: 金星; pinyin: Jīn Xīng) was born in 1967 in Shenyang, China, to an ethnic Korean family. She is a Chinese ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, actress, founder, and artistic director of the contemporary dance company Shanghai.
In addition, she is a transgender celebrity and icon of the Chinese transgender community. This unusual memoir describes how China's foremost male ballet dancer (and colonel in the People's Army) underwent one of China's first sex-change operations and became the Shanghai Ballet's prima ballerina.
2017,
China,
Greek,
Jin Xing,
