The self-taught and naïve painter Effie (Effrosyni) Micheli was born in 1906 in Athens, where she also passed away in 1984. She was the wife of the architect, architectural theorist, and philosopher of art Panayotis Michelis.
She debuted in the art world in 1952. She presented her work in solo exhibitions in Athens, Boston, and Stockolm. She participated in all Panhellenic Art Exhibitions from 1952 to 1973, as well as in more than 50 group exhibitions in Greece and abroad (e.g., Cairo; Salon des Indépendants, Paris, 1959, 1960, 1962; Salon de l’Art Libre, Paris, 1961, 1965; Rome; New York).
She was a member of numerous art associations and a pioneer in the establishment of the International Women’s Cultural Federation (Fédération Internationale Culturelle Féminine), of which she was elected President in 1980. She worked with great zeal to set up the Federation’s Greek Chapter, serving as its President from 1974 to 1984. She was also an active member of the Hellenic Society for Aesthetics and the editorial committee of the journal ‘Chronika Aisthitikis’ (Annals for Aesthetics).
In 1979, she established the Panayotis and Effie Michelis Foundation, serving as its first President, and bequeathed her entire estate to it for the purpose of studying, promoting, and disseminating aesthetics and the philosophy of art. The Foundation has organized retrospective exhibitions of Micheli’s works in Athens (2002), Rethymno (2005), Berlin (2006), and Plovdiv (2010).