Maria Iordanidou

"Loxandra" is the story of a Greek family living in Constantinople (Istanbul) from the mid-18th century up to the beginning of the First World War. It is not biographical as such, and many of the characters are fictional. Others, including the main character of Loxandra, are real. Constantinople was the author's home during the first years of her life and in her book she conveys the historical events, the customs, the spirit of those times when life for the Greeks of Constantinople was relatively untroubled. The real Loxandra was brought up in the Anatolian tradition of love of good food; culinary delights flowed from her hands and her kitchen as from the horn of plenty, and her generosity and enthusiasm for life and food was not confined to her family but spilled over to whomsoever she had contact with. The Greek edition of Loxandra , first published in 1963, has been perhaps the most acclaimed and best-selling popular publication in Greece of the 20th century and remains continuously in print.

Gourmande, généreuse, emportée et tendre à la fois, Loxandra la Grecque est une véritable figure de Constantinople. Elle élève ses enfants, veille sur son mari, vit en bonne intelligence avec les vendeurs à la criée et entretient avec la petite Vierge de Baloukli un étroit commerce. Les mariages, les deuils, les départs en mer, les festins de retrouvailles aux mille saveurs, les déménagements rythment sa vie bien plus que les événements politiques qui agitent cette fin de XIXe siècle. Chronique d'une famille et chronique d'une ville, le livre de Maria Iordanidou - qui raconte ici la vie de sa propre grand-mère - est une formidable invitation à voyager dans un temps d'enthousiasme et de gaieté dont la guerre - celle de 1914, année de la mort de Loxandra - marque la fin définitive.