Georgios Petrakis

Georgios Petrakis (Greek: Γεώργιος Πετράκης; 1890 – 1972), better known as Petrakogiorgis (also spelled as Petrakoyiorgis/Petrakoyeorgis, Greek: Πετρακογιώργης), was a Greek businessman, partisan, and politician. He was a leading figure in the Cretan resistance of the years 1941 – 1944 against the Axis occupation forces, well-respected for his patriotism, couriage, honesty, perspicacity and selflessness.

Petrakogiorgis was born in the village of Magarikari, Mesara Plain, Crete. His parents were Emmanuel Petrakis and Antiope Papastefanaki. Petrakogiorgis fought as an officer in the Asia Minor Campaign, after the end of which he worked as a merchant of agricultural products and owned an olive oil mill and a soap factory.

Aged around 50 when the war broke out, Petrakogiorgis was too old to be called up. Nevertheless, he was one of the regional chieftains conducted by John Pendlebury in his effort to organize a system of defense before the German invasion of Crete. Shortly after Crete fell to the Germans in late May 1941, many resistance organisations were formed across the island. Petrakogiorgis, who had already fought in the Battle of Crete and lost his eldest son Manolis during its course, swore in his first men during June 1941, near Kamares. Having evacuated the rest of his family to the safety of Middle East, he devoted himself whole-heartedly to the fight for liberation. Being pro-British, Petrakogiorgis had close ties with EOK and SOE. He had the code-name Selfridge because, in Beevor's words, "his olive mill was Crete's closest approximation to big business".

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