Grigoris Lambrakis

Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician, physician, athlete, and lecturer. He participated in track and field sports and was a member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens. He was a champion of the Greek resistance to Axis rule during World War II and later became a prominent anti-war activist. He was assassinated by right-wing zealots that were covertly supported by the police and military, which provoked mass protests and led to a political crisis. 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 Games, which took place annually, featuring competitors from Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. He competed in the men's long jump and the men's triple jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II (1941–44), Lambrakis participated actively in the Greek Resistance. In 1943 he set up the Union of Greek Athletes and organized regular competitions. He used the revenue from these games to fund public food-banks for the starving population. 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' political and ideological orientation leaned towards the left. He was actively involved in the pacifist movement of his time, which voiced strong opposition to the First Indochina War and the Second American War in Vietnam. Lambrakis acted politically from within the United Democratic Left, 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 1961 Greek legislative election as a Piraeus MP. Lambrakis is best known for his peace activism, which made him a target of the right-wing establishment. He was the head of the Committee for International Détente and Peace. He managed to organise a very successful protest rally against nuclear weapons in Athens, despite the ban imposed by the government. He also attempted to organise a similar rally in Thessaloniki, but he was stopped by the police. He then decided to march alone holding a banner with the peace symbol and the word "NO". This image became a symbol of his courage and defiance. On 22 May 1963, after delivering a speech at a peace rally in Thessaloniki, Lambrakis was attacked by two far-right extremists, Emannuel Emannouilides and Spyros Gotzamanis, who were driving a three-wheeled delivery vehicle. They hit him on the head with a club, fracturing his skull. Lambrakis was taken to the hospital, where he died five days later. The two assailants were arrested and confessed to the crime. However, it was later revealed that they were part of a paramilitary group that had connections with the police and the military. The assassination was orchestrated by a retired police colonel, Georgios Kakkoulis, who was the head of the local security forces. The involvement of the authorities in the murder sparked public outrage and led to the resignation of the government. Lambrakis' funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of people, who chanted "Lambrakis lives". His death inspired the creation of a youth political movement, known as the Lambrakis Youth, which campaigned for democracy and social justice. His widow, Maro, founded the Lambrakis Foundation, which continues his work for peace and human rights. Lambrakis' life and death were also the subject of a novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, titled Z, which was later adapted into an acclaimed film by Costa-Gavras.