Background
She was a daughter of Georgios Diplarakos and his wife, the former Elena Nicolessi or Nicolessis. Cristina Diplarakos, who was married to Henri Claudel, a son of Paul Claudel.
She was a daughter of Georgios Diplarakos and his wife, the former Elena Nicolessi or Nicolessis. Cristina Diplarakos, who was married to Henri Claudel, a son of Paul Claudel.
Her name has been spelled in various ways, from Alice Diplarakou to Aliki Diplearakos and Aliki Diplarakos. She had three sisters: Nada Diplarakos, who married the French Diplomat André Rodocanachi Edmée Diplarakos, who married Spiros Vassilopoulos. Although the Diplarakou family lived in Athens, they originally were Maniots from Krini in the Peloponnese.
The original family name was Vavouli (Βαβούλη) but it was changed to Aliki"s paternal grandmother"s maiden name of Diplarakou.
In 1929 Diplarakou entered the "Mission Hellas" pageant as Mission Athens. Her biggest competitor was Mission Thessaloniki Roxani Stergiou (Ρωξάνη Στεργίου), who came in second.
That same year the 18-year-old brunette beauty was once more given the chance to represent her country and Europe in the Mission Universe Contest. The event was held on 13 October 1930 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Diplarakou was a runner-up.
She toured the United States giving lectures on ancient and modern Greek culture.
Aside from her native Greek language, she also spoke fluent English, French and Italian. She made headlines in the 1930s when she dressed up in men"s clothes and smuggled herself into the monks" sanctuary on Mount Athos which had stood "inviolate" since the time of the Byzantine Empire, save for harbouring female refugees twice in the past When asked by reporters on how she became Mission Europe, she was quoted in Time magazine as saying: We went and sat in a box.
The judges.. suddenly called out my name.
I thought they were fooling. When I tried to refuse, the President of Greece said I must accept as a patriotic duty.
She also tried her skills in theater, her first appearance being in Prometheus. On 13 July 1953, she was a featured item in a Time article, "The Climax of Sin," which discussed the transformation of women"s role throughout history.
Diplarakou was mentioned in regard to her escapades of dressing up as a man and sneaking into Mount Athos where no women were allowed.