Sotiria Bellou
Greek singer (1921–1997)
Sotiria Bellou (Greek: Σωτηρία Μπέλλου; August 22, 1921 – August 27, 1997) was a Greek singer and performer of the rebetiko style of music. She was one of the most famous rebetissa of all. On March 14, 2010, Alpha TV ranked Bellou the 22nd top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).
Early years
Bellou was born in Halia (now called Drosia, part of the town of Chalkida) on the island of Euboia. She was the oldest of five siblings of a wealthy family. Her grandfather Sotiris Papasotiriou, after whom she was named and who was particularly fond of her, was an Orthodox priest at Shimatari. As a little girl, Sotiria would go to church along with her grandfather and she would absorb the religious sounds and Byzantine hymns. She began singing at the age of three, and was soon making her own guitars out of wire and wood and playing them. Her father, Kyriakos Bellos, had a grocery store in Neapolis in the northern part of Chalkida. The movie "The little emigree" (I prosphygopoula), featuring the popular singer Sofia Vembo was the catalyst that pushed her to pursue an artistic career.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Sotiria Bellou” as greek singer (1921–1997). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as greek singer (1921–1997). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1395666. The first chronological checks are 1921, 1997, 2010 and 1960.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sotiria Bellou” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.