Melanie Petraki – Fiegenbaum was born in 1947 in Ahaus, Germany (Westphalia). She studied English and French at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (1961 – 1967) and then she taught in secondary education.

She was also an amateur painter and presented her works in solo exhibitions from 1990 onwards and in group exhibitions. She also works as a book illustrator and she designs and edits book and album covers. She also participated in the 1st Pan-Hellenic Competition of the International Art Society (Volos) where she was awarded the third Prize and in 2009 she won the second prize in the Pan-Hellenic Painting Competition of the Cultural Association of Harkia.