The Teacher in Black

🎓 The Teacher in Black – Part 1

A Widow, A Pioneer, A Legacy Begins

By Chrystalleni (Lenia) Mitsidou Kalli.

In a small Cypriot village in 1891, a girl was born who would one day become a legend. This is the true story of my grandmother, Chrystalleni, the first woman in our family to break barriers, raise four remarkable sons alone, and leave behind a legacy that shaped generations.

I share this not only as a tribute, but also as an act of love for education, resilience, and the power of women to shape the future.

🎶 I’m also a lyric soprano feel free to listen to music inspired by these roots on my YouTube channel: @operamanic

🧵 A Life Begins in Kythrea (1891)

There are people who lived their lives unaware that they had embroidered it with their deeds, leaving it behind as a precious heirloom.

One such person was my grandmother, Chrystalleni.

A woman of great intelligence, strictness, fairness, perseverance, and clarity of mind. An educator during harsh and difficult times for women, who nevertheless became a guiding light for all who knew her.

This narrative is my tribute, my way of saying thank you to the woman who bequeathed to us not just her name, but an entire world.

The world of the Teacher in Black.

⚖️ The Marriage Bar and a Rebel Spirit

1891, Chrysida, Kythrea,a village in Cyprus, a Greek island in the Mediterranean Sea. That’s where my grandmother, Chrystalleni, was born, a beautiful, blue-eyed girl from the Georgiades family.

She was raised in a Cyprus under British rule, in a world where women rarely had a voice and even more rarely, an education. Married women were not allowed to work. The “Marriage Bar” law, imported from Britain, kept wives at home “for the happiness of the family.”

But Chrystalleni, innately unconventional, knew what she wanted. She insisted on studying to become a teacher an act almost rebellious for a young woman at that time.

👩‍🏫 A Teacher, A Love Story, A Family Grows

Defying expectations, she graduated and became a qualified teacher. While wondering what to do next, a handsome young man named George Mitsides from the nearby village of Mia Milia appeared in her life.

He would pace outside her home, admiring her as she combed her hair on the balcony…and I’m quite sure the hair-combing was not accidental.

A sweet romance blossomed: a Romeo and Juliet of Kythrea, with a happy ending.

“My wife she will be,” he declared. And so she became.

They married , settled in Mia Milia and soon welcomed four sons, one after another. Her mother, our great-grandmother Hadjierini, was always by her side, helping raise the children while grandfather George was managing his estate.

🖤 Widowhood and the Spanish Flu (1918)

But at just 27, only forty days after giving birth to her youngest, Chrystalleni’s world shattered.

Her husband George died suddenly in the horrific Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. She never remarried and devoted herself fully to her children’s survival and success.

With four sons,Antonis, Petros, Costas, and the newborn George, she regrouped. Dressed in black for the rest of her life, and armed with resilience, she refused to be defeated.

🧠 Raising Four Sons with Strength

Her saintly mother Hadjierini remained her rock. Together, they raised and educated the boys,who each went on to achieve greatness.

…Antonis Mitsides, the eldest, became a journalist and was appointed Director of the Greek World Service at the BBC, later overseeing all of Europe for BBC World.

…Petros Mitsides, my father, was her right hand. Though he trained as a teacher, he became the financial backbone of the Nicosia Municipality, overseeing tax enforcement and the Municipal Library.

(A personal aside: I spent many joyful summer hours in that library, the scent of paper and ink still vivid in my memory.)

…Costas Mitsides, my godfather, followed in her footsteps as a philosophical and beloved teacher, admired across Cyprus for his wisdom and sense of justice.

…George Mitsides, the youngest, studied Dramatic Arts in London and later helped establish Cyprus Radio and Television (RIK). He was known as “The Teacher,” training generations of broadcasters.

🧳 Clad in Black: The Educator on the Move

Due to her widowhood, she could now officially work. Thus began her teaching journey across Cyprus: Lapithos, Karavas, Paphos, Kaimakli.

With her suitcase in one hand and books in the other, she entered each village as a black-clad teacher and left a trail of admiration behind.

She connected deeply with local women, sharing recipes, traditions, and embroidery techniques. She even collected intricate lace samples—some crocheted, some sewn—and spoke with awe about the famous “karoulakia” (tiny wheels) from Karavas and Lapithos.

(Later, I saw similar lace in Bruges, Belgium, proof that Cyprus had it all.)

She compiled her lace samples into a handmade book, which I proudly inherited.

📚 Lace, Books, and a Love for Learning

She was not just a passionate teacher,but a lifelong learner.

That same spark, the desire to keep on learning,burns in me today.

While teaching in Paphos, she welcomed a foster daughter, Dora, whom she raised, educated, and even provided a dowry for.

Her sense of justice was unmatched. Dora was treated as her own child and later married a man named Christodoulos,with my grandmother’s full support.

From the classrooms of Cyprus to the porches of Mia Milia, Chrystalleni lived not just as a teacher, but as a builder of minds and hearts.

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