Who Was Michael Totolos? Michael Totolos was a Greek Orthodox monk who lived on Mount Athos and became notable for a very peculiar detail of his life: he lived for 82 years without ever having seen a woman. He was born in 1856 and, according to accounts, was abandoned by his mother on the steps of a monastery. From childhood, he was raised and lived exclusively in the monastic environment of Mount Athos, an autonomous region in Greece that prohibits the entry of women and even female animals (with some exceptions, such as chickens and cats). Totolos passed away in 1938 and is remembered as an example of the ascetic and isolated life that many monks seek on Mount Athos, living in dedication to faith and in complete separation from the outside world.