She was born in 1905 in Piraeus. She was the daughter of flour mill industrialist Vassilis Konstantopoulos and the sister of renowned actress Katina Paxinou. She officially entered the literary scene in 1932, publishing her collection of poems entitled "Women's Talk" [Gynaikeia logia]. Publications that followed include poetry (Confessions [Exomologiseis], Verses [Stichoi], Words to a Dead Person [Logia se nekro]), novels, short stories (A Cuckoo Hushes at Night [Enas koukos sopainei ti nychta]) and travel texts (Routes and Delays [Dromologia kai kathysteriseis], A Walk Around Germany [Peripatos sti Germania], It is Dawning in Cyprus [Stin Kypro fengei], A Walk Around Romania and Moscow [Peripatos sti Roumania kai ti Moscha]). She participated in international literature conferences and gave lectures on Modern Greek Literature and served as Secretary General of the Hellenic Literary Society. In addition, she was one the first five members of the Maria Callas scholarship committee. She was awarded the 1st State Prize for Prose in 1965 for her collection of short stories "From One to Another" [Apo to ena sto allo], and in 1975 the University of Athens award for her book Internal Writing [Esoteriki Grafi]. Together with Kostis Bastias, Alexandra Trianti, Menelaos Pallantios, Christos Labrakis and Arda Mandikian, she established the Maria Callas Scholarship foundation, using the money left by Callas from her fees for her appearances in Epidaurus (1960,1961). She was married to Periklis Rallis, a Folk Party [Laiko Komma] MP from Messinia and governor of Macedonia, who served three terms as Minister of Interior and Minister of National Education and Religions. She died in Athens in 1976. The literary award “Maria Pericles Ralli” was established in her honor. Her archives were donated to ELIA. She served as general secretary of the Board of Directors of the GNO (1956-1967 and 1974-1976).