The esteemed journalist Iro Kariophylli, who passed away recently, gave her last television interview to Manos Niflis back in February 2025. During the appearance on the show ‘Stigmes’ on One Channel, she shared unknown details about her life, career, personal decisions, and emotional struggles.
Kariophylli spoke openly about her childhood, saying, ‘I was a very quiet child. My mother used to say that you couldn’t hear my voice and that I was like a sheep.’ However, she described a major transformation during her teenage years, which set her on the path to becoming a journalist. ‘From the age of 13, I decided this was the job for me, and I never changed my mind,’ she said.
She also credited her mother as being the backbone of their family home and recalled how she encouraged her and her brother to read newspapers every day.
In the emotionally charged interview, Kariophylli reflected on one of the most traumatic cases she had covered—the murder of a young girl named Anny from Bulgaria, whose body was mutilated and discarded by her father. ‘I still haven’t forgotten it. No matter how many years have passed, not a month goes by without me thinking of little Anny,’ she admitted. ‘What hurts my soul is whether she felt pain before she died.’
Kariophylli also discussed the psychological toll of covering violent deaths throughout her career. ‘We’ve all seen death—violent death. The first time I saw a corpse, I was scared. The second time, I was upset. The third time, I cried. At some point, you have to stop, or else we’d all be in a psychiatric ward. But now, as I grow older, I feel those emotions returning, and they hurt deeply.’
Additionally, Kariophylli opened up about her decision not to have children. ‘I didn’t have kids consciously because I believe parenthood is the greatest responsibility, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it. Now, as I age, I think maybe I could have managed it, but there’s no manual for raising children.’
She expressed deep admiration for adoptive parents, calling adoption an act of empathy, solidarity, and selfless love. While she found the idea beautiful, she acknowledged that it was a responsibility she did not feel capable of taking on herself. ‘I may not have children, but I have my 16-year-old niece, and since the day she was born, there hasn’t been a single day I haven’t thought about whether she was crying, if someone hurt her at school, or if she was stressed about exams.’