At the age of 91, Vefa Alexiadou died. The beloved cook, according to information, was facing many health problems and had recently been hospitalized at the "Papanikolaou" hospital in Thessaloniki.
Vefa Alexiadou had settled permanently in Halkidiki. In fact, she had revealed in an earlier interview that the house she lived in for the last few years is all that was left of all her wealth, which she spent on hospitals with the serious health problems she was facing.
Who was Vefa Alexiadou?
Vefa Alexiadou was born in Volos on March 19, 1933. Her grandfather, Charilaos Voulgaris or Makedonas, was born in Mouresi of Pelion in 1880. He got the name "Macedonas" because he fought in the Macedonian Wars (1904 – 1908) against the Bulgarians.
The father of Odyssea Voulgaris was born in Kissos Pelion in 1900. His profession was a furniture maker and at the same time a talented instrument maker, an excellent craftsman in the manufacture of musical instruments, such as mandolins, guitars and bouzoukis.
Her mother, Aggeliki Ioannidou, was born in Constantinople in 1910. She came to Greece with the persecution of 1922 at the age of 12. The couple had two children, Genovefa (Vefa) and Zenovia (Voula). Her father died suddenly of a heart attack 2 days before World War II broke out, aged just 40.
Vefa Alexiadou with her cousin Sofia, her mother Angeliki and her younger sister Voula. He finished second grade in Volos. During the Occupation, he continued school in Florina.
In 1944, with the family's return to Volos, Vefa continued her studies at the Gymnasium. At the same time, he studied violin at the "Odeio Conti" where he received a diploma of higher studies.
He finished the last two grades of high school in Thessaloniki. He studied chemistry at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. After obtaining her degree, she worked for 13 years at the company N. Krallis, as a chemist and later as a commercial representative of scientific instruments. He became a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Greece, obtaining a trade representative license.
Since 1998 he has been a member of the IACP (International Association Culinary Professionals). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the "Archestratos" Center for the rescue and dissemination of Greek culinary traditions.
For 30 years he participated in the Frankfurt International Book Fair and was an honorary representative of the Export Promotion Organization (OPE), promoting Greek products internationally.
At the University she met her husband, Konstantinos Alexiadis, originally from Soufli, Thrace. Konstantinos Alexiadis followed a University career and became a Professor in the Chemical Engineering department of the Polytechnic at the University of Thessaloniki. They got married on May 17, 1959. They had two daughters, the excellent Angeliki and the charismatic Alexia, and two granddaughters, Hara and Vefa.
On January 6, 2006, her beloved husband Kostas Alexiadis passed away. They follow him in the neighborhood of angels a few years later, suddenly, unexpectedly and prematurely, their youngest daughter Alexia Alexiadou on October 28, 2014 and their eldest daughter Angeliki Alexiadou on February 10, 2015. In June 2015, the loss of her beloved sister followed Voulas.
In 1964, Vefa Alexiadou moved with her husband and their 4-year-old daughter, Angeliki, to America. They spent a year in Madison Wisconsin, on the occasion of her husband's scholarship from the Fulbright Foundation.
Twenty years later, in 1984, the husband of Costas Alexiadis travels on Sabbatical to America. So Vefa and her family are there for another year. Specifically 6 months in N. York and 6 months in San Francisco. Vefa attended Berkeley University courses in Dietetics, Food Hygiene, Contemporary Culinary Art and seminars in Presentation Decoration and Food Photography. Also seminars on foreign cuisines, such as Indian, Chinese and Mexican.
Her innate love for cooking, her talent and skill in improvising, creating individual dishes, led her to spend many hours in the kitchen. The dishes that came out of her hands had not only a great taste but also an excellent presence! Vefa Alexiadou modernized the Greek Kitchen, using modern methods and appliances, while maintaining the traditional taste.
In 1980, at the urging of her friends who tasted and enjoyed her food, she began her writing and publishing career by publishing her first book, Invitation to a Meal, with her own money and with the help of Dimitris Tsirimokos, editor of the magazine Health and Beauty, of of which Vefa was then a partner
The great success of her first book prompted her to write and publish 3 more books that cover the whole range of social events: Invitation to a Children's Party, Invitation to Tea and Invitation to a Cocktail, books that were immediately loved by the Greek public.
Her publishing career continued in 1988 with the book Hellenic Cooking. A year later the book Hellenic Confectionery followed.
In 2004, on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Athens, Ta Best of Greek Cuisine was released. Small books with selected recipes from the most popular of Greek cooking and confectionery, accessible to all wallets and easily carried by a traveler. They were translated into 7 languages and the success of their release during the Olympic Games was unprecedented.
Her years on television
In 1990, and for 13 years, Vefa Alexiadou, wanting to share her knowledge with thousands of fellow human beings who have an interest and love for cooking, began her television appearances on the daily show of ANT-1 Breakfast Coffee, through which, in a series for years nurtured the Greek housewives in the correct use and correct measurement of the products, so that the result on the plate is not only tasty but at the same time healthy. 13 years on ANT-1 on the show Breakfast Coffee, he presented the cooking column without ever being paid for it, even paying the expenses for the purchase of the ingredients for the recipes he presented. Through satellite TV of ANT-1 she became known all over the world and she feels grateful for that. In 2003, she started her own daily one-hour show on MEGA entitled "The Secrets of Vefa" for 2 years.
He continues with Morning Coffee on the Alpha channel for 2 months in order to support the show, which had just been transferred from ANT-1. She continued on Alpha with her own show series "In the Kitchen with Vefa" for one year, on the ALTER channel with the shows "Cooking with Vefa" for two years, on Blue Sky for two years and in 2009 on the Cypriot channel Sigma TV "Cooking with Vefa and Alexia Alexiadou".
In 1993, following a demand from the world that urged her to bring to the Greek market all the tools and utensils she chose and used in her kitchen, she started with the franchising system the operation of Vefa's House, a large chain of 26 stores, kitchen items in the whole country. The love and response of the world also crowned this entrepreneurial effort with enormous success.
Source: protothema.gr
