- Gregoris Lambrakis
Gregoris Lambrakis (Γρηγόρης Λαμπράκης) (
April 3 1912 –May 27 1963 ) was a Greekpolitician ,physician , athlete, and member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at theUniversity of Athens .Early life
Lambrakis was born in the village of
Kerasitsa in the district ofTegea (Arkadia , thePeloponnese ). After finishing high school in his home town, he moved toAthens to enter the School of Medicine at theUniversity of Athens .Lambrakis was a great athlete throughout his life. He held the Greek record for
long jump for twenty-three years (1936–1959). He also earned several gold medals in the Balkan Athletic Games, which took place annually, featuring competitors from Greece,Yugoslavia ,Bulgaria ,Romania , andTurkey .During the
Axis occupation of Greece during World War II (1941–1944), Lambrakis participated actively in theGreek Resistance . In 1943 he set up the Union of Greek Athletes ("Ένωση των Ελλήνων Αθλητών") and organised regular competitions. He used the revenue from these games to fund public food-banks for the starving population.Post-War activism
After
World War II , Lambrakis completed his medical studies and worked as a lecturer in the Department ofgynaecology . He continued to help the poor by running a small private clinic for patients who were unable to afford medical care.While not a Communist, Lambrakis's political and ideological orientation did lean towards the left. He was actively involved in the
Pacifist Movement of his time, which voiced strong opposition to theVietnam War .Fact|date=September 2007 Lambrakis acted politically from within theUnited Democratic Left (Eniaia Democratiki Aristera — EDA, the only legal left-wing political party in the country after theGreek Civil War 1946–1949) and until the fall of theGreek military junta of 1967-1974 . He was elected to theHellenic Parliament in theGreek legislative election, 1961 as aPiraeus MP.The same year (1961), under his initiative, the Commission for International Detente and Peace (Eπιτροπή για την Διεθνή Ύφεση και Ειρήνη — Epitropi gia ti Diethni Ifesi kai Irini — EDYE) was established in Greece. In his capacity as Vice President of EDYE, Lambrakis participated in international pacifist meetings and demonstrations, despite frequent threats against his life. On
21 April 1963 , the pacifist movement in Greece organised the First Pacifist Rally from Marathon toAthens . The police intervened, banned the rally and arrested many demonstrators (Mikis Theodorakis among them). Lambrakis, protected by his parliamentary immunity, marched alone and arrived at the end of the rally holding the banner with the peace symbol (photo), the one he had previously held up during theAldermaston rally in theUnited Kingdom while protesting near theAtomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE). Soon afterwards he, too, was arrested by the police.Assassination
On
22 May 1963 , after delivering the keynote speech at an anti-war meeting inThessaloniki , two far-right extremists (E. Emmanouilidis and S. Gotzamanis) driving a three wheeled vehicle, struck Lambrakis with a club over the head in plain view of the police and a large number of people.He suffered brain injuries and died in the hospital five days later, on27 May .The next day, in Athens, his funeral became a massive demonstration. More than 500,000 people rallied to protest against the right-wing government and the Royal Court, seen by many to support the activities of the right-wing extremists. The assassination of Lambrakis initiated an enormous popular reaction, and soon after, investigator
Christos Sartzetakis and Attorney General P. Delaportas uncovered connections of the police and army to far-right extremists. Both men would lose their jobs during the military dictatorship of 1967; Christos Sartzetakis would also find himself imprisoned for a year during the dictatorship. Sartzetakis became a symbol for integrity due to his handling of the investigation.The events that followed the assassination of Lambrakis led to rapid political developments. Prime Minister
Constantine Karamanlis resigned and left forParis in July 1963. The Marathon Peace Rally became an annual event in Lambrakis's memory. Thousands of Greek youths formed a new political organisation called The Neolaia Lambraki (Νεολαία Λαμπράκη - Lambrakis Youth); the first secretary of Neolaia Lambraki was Mikis Theodorakis, one of Lambrakis's friends and fellow activists. This leftist political organisation played a decisive role in Greece's progressive movement of the 1960s.Legacy
The life and death of Gregoris Lambrakis inspired the author
Vassilis Vassilikos to write the political novel "Z". The title stands for the first letter of the Greek word "Zei" ("Lives!"), a popular slogan which began to appear on the walls of the buildings of the Greek cities in the 1960s, illustrating the growing protest against the conditions that led to the assassination of Lambrakis. In 1969, the Greek-French film directorCosta-Gavras (Κώστας Γαβράς) made the film "Z", which was a great success.Yves Montand starred as Lambrakis,Jean-Louis Trintignant as investigator Sartzetakis andIrene Papas as Lambrakis's widow.Lambrakis remains in the hearts of the Greek people as a national symbol of democracy, representing the struggle against political repression, Royal Court scandal, and international dependence. After the fall of the military dictatorship in 1974, numerous places, including a football stadium in
Kallithea and streets and squares throughout the country, have been named in honor of Gregoris Lambrakis.The
Athens Classic Marathon is run in memory of Gregoris Lambrakis every November.ee also
*
United Democratic Left
*History of Modern Greece
*Christos Sartzetakis
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