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Η Πάνω Μεριά του κόσμου
Η μυθιστορηματική βιογραφία ενός ανθρώπου κι ενός τόπου, βασισμένη στο ημερολόγιο μιας καπετάνισσας. Μια ζωή γεμάτη τρικυμίες και μπουνάτσες στη Σαντορίνη και στον Πειραιά, στο χτες και στο σήμερα. Μια ζωή απόλυτα δεμένη με τη θάλασσα, τη ναυτιλία και τη ναυτοσύνη. Από τα πανιά της σκούνας, μέχρι τα λίμπερτυ των αποζημιώσεων του πολέμου κι από τις βεγγέρες του νησιού μέχρι τα ταξίδια στην Ευρώπη.
200 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2008
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19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 30, 2025
In its English translation the name of the now famous village of Ia in Santorini has been added to the title of the book, presumably for commercial purposes. It sounds like a travel guide, but it is, in fact, the story of the first Greek woman ship owner, born and bred on the “Upper side” of the barren island that Santorini was in 1882. It was part of her own world, and even though she moved to Athens later in life to better manage the shipping company she built, the idiom of her birthplace, together with its ethos, stayed with her to the end of her life.
She was the daughter of a schooner captain and at fifteen she was married to a captain, fifteen years her senior. She had only attended the first three grades of elementary school and that was considered enough education for a girl of her class and upbringing. While her husband was away at sea, her role was that of the housekeeper, mother and guardian of her tight-knit family and community. Gifted with a shrewd mind for business and commerce, she was trusted with the management of the money brought home from the ship’s trips to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. With it she bought more ships and land, eventually joining the group of prominent Greek shipping families. She gave birth to fourteen children of whom seven survived. She made deft economic decisions while at the same time stirring with a firm hand her household and her business endeavors through the troubled waters of two world wars, many financial mishaps, personal tragedies and losses, as well as many occasions of happiness and achievement.
At seventy, wanting to document - in whatever way she knew - her emotions, she started “writing down her life” in a leather-bound diary one of her nephews (also a captain) had brought her from one of his trips. Her writing is unpretentious, richly colored by the dialect that she never shed, a raw account of facts, feelings and memories. Fifteen years later, a day before she died, she gave the diary to her granddaughter, so that she would know “who her grandmother had been.” She, in turn, copiously transcribed hundreds of pages of text lacking paragraphs and punctuation, giving form to a flowing narration brimming with love for her family and the people and traditions of her homeland, but also with the resilience, modesty and integrity of a remarkable, wholesome person.
I read this in its original language, of course, and it was a pleasure to rediscover words and expressions I had heard from my own grandmothers during childhood. I can’t for the life of me imagine how such heavily accented language sounds in English, but even if its effect isn’t as strong, the stories themselves are powerful enough to keep their readers hooked.
For me, it was the most transporting and inspiring read of the year, so far.
https://www.santorini.net/shop/books/...
https://www.naftikachronika.gr/2022/0...
She was the daughter of a schooner captain and at fifteen she was married to a captain, fifteen years her senior. She had only attended the first three grades of elementary school and that was considered enough education for a girl of her class and upbringing. While her husband was away at sea, her role was that of the housekeeper, mother and guardian of her tight-knit family and community. Gifted with a shrewd mind for business and commerce, she was trusted with the management of the money brought home from the ship’s trips to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. With it she bought more ships and land, eventually joining the group of prominent Greek shipping families. She gave birth to fourteen children of whom seven survived. She made deft economic decisions while at the same time stirring with a firm hand her household and her business endeavors through the troubled waters of two world wars, many financial mishaps, personal tragedies and losses, as well as many occasions of happiness and achievement.
At seventy, wanting to document - in whatever way she knew - her emotions, she started “writing down her life” in a leather-bound diary one of her nephews (also a captain) had brought her from one of his trips. Her writing is unpretentious, richly colored by the dialect that she never shed, a raw account of facts, feelings and memories. Fifteen years later, a day before she died, she gave the diary to her granddaughter, so that she would know “who her grandmother had been.” She, in turn, copiously transcribed hundreds of pages of text lacking paragraphs and punctuation, giving form to a flowing narration brimming with love for her family and the people and traditions of her homeland, but also with the resilience, modesty and integrity of a remarkable, wholesome person.
I read this in its original language, of course, and it was a pleasure to rediscover words and expressions I had heard from my own grandmothers during childhood. I can’t for the life of me imagine how such heavily accented language sounds in English, but even if its effect isn’t as strong, the stories themselves are powerful enough to keep their readers hooked.
For me, it was the most transporting and inspiring read of the year, so far.
https://www.santorini.net/shop/books/...
https://www.naftikachronika.gr/2022/0...
September 19, 2025
I don’t rate biographies but this was a quick and fantastic read! Picked it up in the Maritime Museum in Oia, Santorini. Biography written as a novel on the life of Kadio Kolymva - an uneducated woman married at 14 that came to amass a fleet of several ships, in 19th and 20th century Greece. The story covers her triumphs, struggles, and steadfast focus on family and faith. She speaks of the Santorini earthquake of 1956 and her experience living through both world wars. The writing is straightforward, simple, and inspiring.
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December 14, 2020"Η συγγραφέας μάς ταξιδεύει στη Σαντορίνη μιας άλλης εποχής· τη φτωχή σε υλικά αγαθά και ευκολίες, αλλά τόσο πλούσια σε συναίσθημα και ανθρωπιά. Και γι’ αυτό, της οφείλουμε ένα μεγάλο ευχαριστώ".
Η άποψή μου για τη μυθιστορηματική βιογραφία "Η Πάνω Μεριά του κόσμου" της Καδιώς Κολύμβα στα Βιβλιοσημεία: https://vivliosimeia.blogspot.com/202...
Η άποψή μου για τη μυθιστορηματική βιογραφία "Η Πάνω Μεριά του κόσμου" της Καδιώς Κολύμβα στα Βιβλιοσημεία: https://vivliosimeia.blogspot.com/202...
January 30, 2020
Γνήσιος αυθεντικός λόγος, με τη δύναμη και τη δροσιά της ντοπιολαλιάς από μια κυκλαδίτισσα αρχόντισσα. Πέρα από τύπους και αφηγηματικές συμβάσεις μιλά κατευθείαν στην ψυχή του αναγνώστη αποπνέοντας πελαγίσιο αέρα και άρωμα νησιωτικής Ελλάδας. Με συγκίνησε!
December 22, 2019
Πολύ όμορφη βιογραφία με τη χαρακτηριστική ντοπιολαλιά της Σαντορίνης!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews