Decorator, stage designer, costume designer, and painter Maria Chaniotaki – Kafousia was born in Heraklion, Crete in 1958. She studied civil engineering at the Technological Educational Institute of Larissa and stage design in England and London.

She has also written and illustrated her own children’s books. She is a member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece, of the Society of British Theatre Designers and of the International Theatre Institute.