Eleni "Lela" Karagianni ( el, Λέλα Καραγιάννη ; 1898 – 8 September 1944), also written Karayanni, was a Greek resistance leader during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. 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

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

d 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.

Biography

Lela Karagianni was born in

Limni, Euboea Limni ( el, Λίμνη meaning "lake") is a town and a community in the northwestern part of the island of Euboea, Greece. It is located northwest of Chalkida and southeast of Istiaia. Limni is part of the municipal unit of Elymnioi, and it was ...

. Prior to World War II, Karagianni was a housewife in Athens. Her husband was a pharmacist, and the couple together had seven children. When the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

invaded and occupied Greece in 1941, the Karagiannis provided medicine to retreating British soldiers, and later helped some stranded soldiers escape the country. As the occupation continued, the family grew increasingly involved in the burgeoning

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

against the-then Italian occupiers of Athens; this eventually resulted in the Lela, her husband, and her older sons joining the

National Republican Greek League The National Republican Greek League ( el, Εθνικός Δημοκρατικός Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος (ΕΔΕΣ), ''Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos'' (EDES)) was one of the major resistance groups formed during t ...

, commonly known by its Greek acronym EDES. Lela formed her own cell within the wider movement, code-named "Bouboulina" in reference to her great grandmother

Laskarina Bouboulina Laskarina Bouboulina ( el, Λασκαρίνα Μπουμπουλίνα; 1771 – 22 May 1825) was a Greek naval commander, heroine of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, and considered the first woman to attain the rank of admiral. She was b ...

, a female Greek captain who had fought against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

during the Greek War of Independence. Karagianni and her fellow partisans operated out of her husband's pharmacy in Athens and from a monastery in Megara. The cell distributed information to other cells, smuggled wanted individuals into areas controlled by Greek partisan forces, and forged documents, and coordinated with

British military intelligence The Intelligence Corps (Int Corps) is a corps of the British Army. It is responsible for gathering, analysing and disseminating military intelligence and also for counter-intelligence and security. The Director of the Intelligence Corps is a br ...

to disrupt the Axis occupation. 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". 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.

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. In 2011 she was recognized as being Righteous Among Nations. Her name has been given to a street in central Athens (Lelas Karagianni St., formerly Limnou St.), close to , now a protected monument.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karagianni, Lela 1898 births 1944 deaths National Republican Greek League members Greek Righteous Among the Nations Female resistance members of World War II Greek people executed by Nazi Germany Greek torture victims People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad People from Euboea (regional unit) Deaths by firearm in Greece