Lela Karagianni
Lela Karagianni | |
---|---|
Λέλα Καραγιάννη | |
Born | Eleni Karagianni 24 June 1898 |
Died | 8 September 1944 | (aged 45–46)
Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
Nationality | Greek |
Occupation | Resistance leader |
Children | 7 Children |
Relatives | Laskarina Bouboulina (Great Grandmother) |
Righteous Among the Nations |
---|
By country |
Eleni "Lela" Karagianni (Greek: Λέλα Καραγιάννη [ˈlela karaˈʝani]; 1898 – 8 September 1944), also written Karayanni, was a Greek resistance leader during World War II. The wife of an Attican pharmacist and the mother of seven children, Karagianni worked to coordinate Greek resistance cells and their activities against the occupying Axis forces. Captured and tortured by the Germans in 1944, Karagianni was sent to Haidari concentration camp, where she continued to organize a resistance against the Germans. She was executed by firing squad on 8 September 1944.[1]
Biography
Lela Karagianni was born in
Karagianni and her fellow partisans operated out of her husband's pharmacy in Athens and from a monastery in
In July 1944, Karagianni was arrested in Athens by the German occupation forces. She was taken to the SS headquarters on Merlin Street, known to some Greek prisoners as "Hell House".[5] There, she was tortured for several days before being sent to Haidari concentration camp on the outskirts of Athens. While interned, Lela continued to coordinate a resistance effort against the Germans. However, she and other captured resistance members were executed by firing squad on the morning of 8 September 1944, just 34 days before Athens was liberated by Allied forces.[1][3]
Legacy
Following the war, Lela Karagianni and her family (her husband, daughters, and sons survived the war) were honored for their efforts during the conflict. A bust of Karagianni was commissioned by the Union of Greek Woman Scientists in 1963.[6] In 2011 she was recognized as being Righteous Among Nations.[2]
Her name has been given to a street in central Athens (Lelas Karagianni St., formerly Limnou St.), close to her house , now a protected monument.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c d "Greeks Honored Righteous Among Nations | GreekReporter.com". greece.greekreporter.com. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ a b c "Heroine Of The Underground: Lela Karagianni | Greek News". www.greeknewsonline.com. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Notabilia – People – Greek War Of Independence (1821–1829) – Laskarina Bouboulina (1776–1825)". www.johnpap.net. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "LELA CARAYANNIS – Greece's Narional Heroine – Photos from 2003 Ceremony". www.drgeorgepc.com. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
- ^ "Merlin". www.occupation-memories.org. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Unveiling of the bust of the Greek National Resistance Heroine Lela Karagianni in Athens by Princess Irene". EUscreenXL. Retrieved 11 October 2018.