May 22, 2020

Laskarina Bouboulina, a Great Greek Heroine


Laskarina Bouboulina, one of the most well-known female Greek revolutionaries in Greece yet almost completely unknown outside of Greece, was born in a prison in Constantinople on 11 May 1771, who became a famous heroine of the Greek War of Independence in 1821 as a naval commander for the Greek army. She was killed on 22 May 1825 as the result of a family feud in Spetses by being shot in the head.

Among her famous words, Laskarina Bouboulina told the Greek political leaders:

"I lost my husband. Blessed be God!

My eldest son fell with his weapon in his hands. Blessed be God!

My second son, 14 years old, fought with the Greeks and eventually found a glorious death. Blessed be God!

Under the sign of the Cross my blood will also flow. Blessed be God!

We will conquer or die with the living, but we will have the consolation that in the world we did not leave behind the Greeks in slavery."

A Greek film, Bouboulina, was made in 1959, directed and written by Kostas Andritsos and starring Irene Papas. The purpose of this post is to get someone to include English subtitles to the video and repost it.



For more information in English, you can begin by reading her Wikipedia entry here, or watch this short introductory video: