Greece bid farewell Friday to beloved actress Maro Kontou, who passed away Wednesday, July 15, at the age of 92. Her fun...

Greece bid farewell Friday to beloved actress Maro Kontou, who passed away Wednesday, July 15, at the age of 92. Her funeral was held at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral before burial at the First Cemetery of Athens, with family, close colleagues, and friends in attendance. The ceremony was private, with no public viewing. Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Nikitas Kaklamanis, a close personal friend of Kontou for 30 years, delivered the eulogy. He described her as "an airy, slender, impressive creature with innate grace, an independent, free, and dynamic woman who lived with her heart as her compass and the stubbornness to break stereotypes and build her life on her own human terms." Wreaths were sent by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, and Athens Mayor among others. Kaklamanis revealed after the ceremony that Kontou had privately battled cancer for nearly two years. He said she fought alone, and left the way she wanted, standing tall and with dignity, exactly as she had lived. He also fulfilled her last personal wish, placing a glass of whisky and a lit cigarette at an empty chair in her honor at their next gathering. Actor Spyros Bibilas, representing the Greek actors' union, remembered her velvety voice and her insistence on being seen as an ordinary person despite her star status. "Every time we asked to honor her, she would say: 'I am just passing through, I don't want honors, I only want your love,'" he recalled. Angela Gerekou, her co-star from the series "I Gi tis Elias" who played her on-screen daughter, called Kontou "a brave model of kindness and generosity," adding she would carry her in her soul always. Director Andreas Georgiou remembered her as the soul of every set, calling her endlessly professional, warm, and tireless. Beyond acting, Kontou had also served as a member of parliament and municipal councilor, and was president of the Athens 9.84 radio station and the Mitera Infant Center. #MaroKontou #Greece #GreekCinema