Maria Kokkinou – Bitsaki was born in 1935 in Athens. She studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1959 – 1964) under Yiannis Moralis. From 1965 to 1966 she attended mosaic classes at the École des Beaux-arts in Paris and studied sociology of art at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (1968 – 1969, 1973).

She lived in Paris until 1976 where she held her first solo exhibitions. She is among the founding members of the Art Group 4+ and has participated in the group’s exhibitions, in the Pan-Hellenic exhibition of 1975, in the Sao Paulo Biennale 1985, etc. She is a member of the Group for Communication and Education in Art and has published art theory texts. She is a member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece.