Dimitra Avthinou

Dimitra Authinou-Spilioti was born in Nikaia of Piraeus. She is of Corfiot origin on her father’s side (Konstantinos Authinou) and from Piraeus on her mother’s side (Vasiliki Vafeidou), who was the sister of the late Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra. She is married to Nikolaos Spiliotis, a retired officer of the Hellenic Navy, and they have two children, Eirini and Konstantinos. Raised by her beloved grandmother Dimitra, mother of Elder Aimilianos—who reposed as the nun Aimiliani—and following in the footsteps of her Cappadocian teacher great-grandmother Eutaxia Vafeidou—who reposed as the nun Eudoxia—she wished to become an educator. From the age of ten she had decided that her life would be intertwined with teaching. She studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and is a graduate of the Department of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology.

In 2009 she moved with her family to the USA due to her husband’s assignment to a U.S. Navy base in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There she had the blessing to teach the Greek language and Greek Orthodox culture in the Greek parish schools of the region. From 2020 until today she teaches online and prepares students for the Greek language certification examinations.