Grigoris Lambrakis

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Grigoris Lambrakis : biography

April 3, 1912 – May 27, 1963

Grigoris Lambrakis () ( – ) was a Greek politician, physician, track and field athlete, and member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens.

Post-War activism

MP and Greek anti-fascist resistance icon Grigoris Lambrakis marching alone in the banned Marathon–Athens Peace Rally on Sunday April 21 1963, one month before his assassination

After World War II, Lambrakis completed his medical studies and worked as a lecturer in the Department of gynaecology. 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 the Vietnam War. Lambrakis acted politically from within the United Democratic Left (‘, ΕΔΑ/Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá, EDA), the only legal left-wing political party in the country after the Greek Civil War of 1946–1949 and until the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. He was elected to the Hellenic Parliament in the Greek legislative election, 1961 as a Piraeus MP.

The same year (1961), under his initiative, the Commission for International Détente and Peace (Eπιτροπή για την Διεθνή Ύφεση και Ειρήνη — Epitropí gia ti Diethní Ýfesi ke Iríni — 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 , the pacifist movement in Greece organized the First Pacifist Rally from Marathon to Athens. 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 the Aldermaston rally in the United Kingdom while protesting near the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE). Soon afterwards he, too, was arrested by the police.

Early life

Lambrakis was born in the village of Kerasitsa in the district of Tegea (Arcadia, the Peloponnese). After finishing high school in his home town, he moved to Athens to enter the School of Medicine at the University of Athens.

Lambrakis was a champion 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, and Turkey.

During the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II (1941–1944), Lambrakis participated actively in the Greek Resistance. In 1943 he set up the Union of Greek Athletes (Ένωση των Ελλήνων Αθλητών, Enosi ton Ellínon Athlitón) and organized regular competitions. He used the revenue from these games to fund public food-banks for the starving population.

Legacy

The life and death of Grigoris Lambrakis inspired the author Vassilis Vassilikos to write the political novel "Z". The title stands for the first letter of the Greek word "Zi" ("[He] Lives!"), a popular graffito 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 director Costa-Gavras (Κώστας Γαβράς) made the film Z, which was a great success. Yves Montand starred as Lambrakis, Jean-Louis Trintignant as investigator Sartzetakis and Irene 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 Grigoris Lambrakis.