Sophia Iakovidou is a Civil Engineer. She studied at the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and holds a postgraduate degree in a related field to her studies. Since 2004, she has been working in the broader public sector, including the Organization for the Planning and Exploitation of Agricultural Structures (O.P.E.K.E.P.E.) of the Ministry of Rural Development, the Surveying Service of the Central Macedonia Region, and the Regional Directorate of Forests and Natural Environment of Central Macedonia. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program of the University of Western Macedonia and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with a thesis titled “The Poetry of Elias Tsirkinidis (1915-1999): a source of inspiration for generations and poets of Pontian origin.” She is also a holder of an English language proficiency certificate (C2/5) and a “Certificat de langue Francaise” in French.

Since 2015, she has been actively involved in the Pontian community. In recent years, she has served on the board of the Pontian Women’s Welfare Association and the Pontian Dialect Committee of the Pan-Pontian Federation of Greece. Since the end of 2023, she has been a member of the Pontian Studies Committee. In the recent local elections in October 2023, she was elected as a municipal councilor in the Neapoli section of the Municipality of Neapoli-Sykies.

With Pontian roots from both of her parents, originating from Kotyora and Kars in Pontus, she writes poems and lyrics in Pontian, some of which have been published in the newspaper “Efxinos Pontos.” Her verses have been set to music by the renowned singer Alexis Parcharidis. A short story titled “ndo ‘k’ emeva kamian” was published in the electronic magazine “Culture Book.” She participated in the 1st International Conference on Pontian Dialect held in Florina in October 2022, serving as a member of the organizing committee and co-presenter with Professor Triantafyllos H. Kotopoulos on the topic “Pontian literary production as a vitalizing force for the Pontian language.”

In September 2022, she presented a paper at the 5th International Creative Writing Conference in Palermo, focusing on Pontian literature with the title “Literary Memories: Pontian yesterday in tomorrow.” Last winter, she completed the second cycle of Creative Writing seminars for adults as the responsible instructor at the Neapoli Municipal Library, and in February 2024, she started the next cycle. In the coming months, she is preparing to publish her first poetry collection entirely written in the language of her ancestors. She has organized and participated in cultural events in the city of Thessaloniki and beyond.