She was the sister of Greek author Dido Sotiriou and the partner of Nikos Beloyannis, with whom she had a son in 1951.

[1][2] Pappa became known internationally in 1952 when a campaign for clemency against the death sentence given to her by the military tribunal in Athens saw a letter from her prison cell published across the world.

It narrates her life after the end of the Second World War until her release from prison in 1964, concentrating on conveying her own experience of these events while detailing historical facts.

[5][6] Nikos Tzimas's film The Man with the Carnation (1980) tells the story of Beloyannis (played by Foivos Gikopoulos) in the post-Civil War period.

It includes many scenes with Pappa (played by Mirka Papakonstantinou), who worked with him when he arrived in Athens in June 1950 and remained close to him during their trials and the consequent execution of Beloyannis and his associates.