Her father was Vasilios Papantoniou,[3][4] one of Kyknos Canning Company owners while her mother was descendant of a wealthy family.
[4] During the Axis occupation of Greece she lived with her family in Athens under difficult circumstances while her father was killed during Dekemvriana.
[4] Since 1971 Papantioniou made a notable professional career as a scenic and costume designer working along with Michael Elliott, Karolos Koun, Alexis Minotis, Katina Paxinou etc.
[5] From 1956 until the 1980s, Papantoniou carried an extensive fieldwork throughout Greece, Cyprus and the Griko communities of Italy, gathering data and documents about the traditional culture, music and dance and also about the preindustrial technology and old-fashioned children games.
[citation needed] In 1974 she founded the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, a nonprofit cultural institution and museum based in Nafplion, in memory of her father Vasilios Papantoniou.