author
Demetra Vaka
1877–1946
A Greek-born writer and journalist who turned firsthand experience into vivid books about life in the late Ottoman world, she brought American readers intimate views of Turkey, the Balkans, and the lives of women often left out of mainstream accounts.
1 Audiobook
A Child of the Orient
by Demetra Vaka
About the author
Born on Büyükada in the Sea of Marmara in 1877, Demetra Vaka later became known as Demetra Kenneth Brown after her marriage. Sources agree that she left home to avoid an arranged marriage, came to the United States as a teenager, and for a time worked on the Greek-language newspaper Atlantis in New York before moving into writing more fully.
She became known for books and articles drawn from personal knowledge of Ottoman and Balkan society. Her work includes Haremlik, The Unveiled Ladies of Stamboul, and the memoir A Child of the Orient, and she was often presented to American readers as an informed interpreter of the region and of women's lives within it.
Demetra Vaka died in 1946. Though she is not widely read today, her writing still stands out for its blend of memoir, reporting, and cultural observation from someone who had lived across more than one world.