Afroditi Laoutari

{{short description|Greek singer and actress}}

{{Refimprove|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox person

|image =

|image_size = 150px

|name = Afroditi Laoutari
Αφροδίτη Λαουτάρη

|birth_date = 1893

|birth_place = Patras, Greece

|death_date = 1975

|death_place = Athens, Greece

|occupation = singer, actress

}}

Afroditi Laoutari ({{langx|el|Αφροδίτη Λαουτάρη}}, 1893–1975){{cite web |last1=Seiragakis |first1=Manolis |title=Η ελληνική οπερέττα, ένα αχαρτογράφητο είδος: Greek Operetta, an unknown genre |url=https://www.academia.edu/1440888 |website=Academia |location=University of Crete |page=7 |language=Greek}} was a famous Greek singer and actress in musical theatre.{{cite book |last1=Xepapadakou |first1=Avra |editor1-last=Belina |editor1-first=Anastasia |editor2-last=Scott |editor2-first=Derek B. |title=The Cambridge Companion to Operetta |date=2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107182165 |page=182 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYK0DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Aphrodite+Laoutari%22&pg=PA182 |accessdate=10 October 2019 |chapter=Operetta in Greece}}

She was born in Patras in 1893. At an early age, she became involved with the musical theatre of {{ill|Ioannis Papaioannou (singer)|el|Ιωάννης Παπαϊωάννου}}, a leading operatic producer, where it didn't take long for her voice and stage talents to be appreciated, though she was self-taught. By 1915, she was already performing lead roles with the company. From that date through the 1920s, she performed roles in many works of musical theatre, both foreign and especially, Greek operettas. She was a muse to composer and conductor Theophrastos Sakellaridis.{{cite news |last1=Rigopoulos |first1=Dimitris |title=Operetta journey to heart of Athenian Belle Epoque |url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/55832/article/ekathimerini/life/operetta-journey-to-heart-of-athenian-belle-epoque |accessdate=10 October 2019 |work=Kathimerini |date=4 March 2008 |location=Athens, Greece}} By the early 1930s, she had retired from the theatre. She then became one of, if not the, first Greek radio announcers on Athens Radio Station (RCA) in 1938, where she was a dominating force.{{cite web |title=Η έμπνευση της ημέρας (Παγκόσμια Ημέρα Ραδιοφώνου) (The inspiration of the day: World Radio Day) |url=https://www.empneusi.gr/daily-empneusi/13-02-2019/ |website=Empneusi 107 FM |accessdate=10 October 2019 |language=Greek}} She continued to broadcast after the end of World War II for another decade. Sofia Vembo has been said to resemble Afroditi Laoutari at the height of her fame. She died in 1975.