Mercouri

Mercouri is a Greek surname. It is most commonly found in Greece and among Greek communities abroad. The name is typically transliterated as Mercouri in English.

The most widely known bearer of the name is Melina Mercouri (1920–1994), a Greek actress and politician who achieved international fame as a film star in the 1950s and 1960s. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Never on Sunday (1960). Mercouri later entered politics and served as Greece's Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1989. In public life she was a prominent advocate for the arts, and she campaigned for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece, helping to raise international awareness of Greek cultural heritage.

Beyond Melina Mercouri, the surname is relatively uncommon in English-language sources and is primarily associated with Greek heritage. The name appears in various Greek families and may be encountered within Greek communities worldwide, though it remains most strongly linked to Mercouri the actress and cultural figure.