Paola Revenioti, a pioneering Greek LGBTQI+ activist, died at the age of 68 after a long battle with cancer. Her passing marks the loss of one of the most influential voices in Greece’s queer rights movement.
A Lifelong Advocate for Equality
Revenioti was a publisher, photographer, documentary filmmaker, and one of the earliest LGBTQI+ activists in Greece, beginning her work in the late 1970s. In 1981, she founded the groundbreaking magazine Kraksimo — described as a ‘magazine of revolutionary homosexual expression’ — which became a vital platform for queer visibility and political discourse during decades of social silence and stigma.
Pride, Media, and Marginalised Voices
In the 1990s, she played a key role in organizing some of Athens’ first Pride events — at a time when public LGBTQI+ presence was extremely limited. In recent years, her focus shifted to documentary filmmaking, often highlighting historical, social, and political issues with particular attention to people and communities on the margins of society. She collaborated closely with the Paola Team Documentaries group and worked as a radio producer for Radiomera.
Political Engagement and Legacy
In 2019, Revenioti joined the political party MeRA25 and ran as a parliamentary candidate in Athens A during the 2023 national elections. Her death was announced on Facebook by journalist Danai Maragkoudakis: ‘Our beloved friend Paola Revenioti passed away last night at Sismanogleio Hospital after a long fight with cancer, at the age of 68. She leaves behind one of the most important chapters in the history of Greece’s queer community — through Kraksimo, her photographs, her documentaries, and, above all, the way she lived: steadfastly defending freedom, dignity, and life itself. We say goodbye with deep sorrow, love, and profound gratitude for the mark she left on all our lives — and on every trans and queer person who met her, her work, or her public voice. Thanks to her, we breathe more freely. We will always speak of the legacy she leaves us — collectively. More information about her funeral will follow later today.’