Η Έλλη

The song refers to a specific person, Elli (Eleni) Perivola of the Tenekidis family, and to incidents that occurred in Vourla (Urla), in the region of Ionia, at the beginning of the 20th century. According to the letter of the granddaughter of the protagonist of the song, Eleni Perivola Pipini, Elli (who came from a very good family of Smyrna [Izmir]) was born around 1886 in Vourla (Urla), in the region of Ionia. When she was almost a teenager she eloped with Giannis Perivolas, a descendant of the renowned Prevolas or Perivolas family from Vourla (Urla), with whom she eventually got married and had six children. During the absence of Giannis Perivolas due to the fulfillment of his military obligations, Elli, in order to deal with the unjust behavior of her husband's relatives towards her and their six children, submitted a relevant complaint to the court, which ruled in her favor. Perivolas' relatives reacted strongly, accusing her of having an affair with the Turkish judge in order to influence the court’s decision, and the end result was the couple's separation. Regardless of what really happened, the incident was a scandal and had a resounding impact on Greek society in Asia Minor, as evidenced by the creation of this song and by adapting similar lyrics to a pre-existing melody coming from the region of Asia Minor. For more information see Aristomenis Kalyviotis, "Elli Tenekidou-Perivola. Mia dynamiki gynaika tis epochis tis itan i iroida tou omonymou smyrnaiikou tragoudiou", "Metronomos" magazine, issue 35, Athens, January-March 2015. In addition, Maria V. Asvesti, in collaboration with Markos Dragoumis, presented in the Bulletin of the Hellenic Folklore Society (volume 35, 1987-1989) an extensive monograph on the song "Elli" with information about this event.