Stefanos Sarafis
| Stefanos Sarafis Στέφανος Σαράφης |
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|---|---|
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| Born | 23 October 1890 Trikala, Thessaly, Kingdom of Greece |
| Died |
31 May 1957 (aged 66) Kalamaki near Athens |
| Occupation | Military officer (Colonel in the Hellenic Army, Major General in EAM-ELAS) and politician |
| Organization |
National Liberation Front Greek People's Liberation Army |
| Political party |
Party of Liberals (before the war) Communist Party of Greece (during the war) United Democratic Left (after the war) |
Stefanos Sarafis (Greek: Στέφανος Σαράφης, 23 October 1890 – 31 May 1957) was an officer of the Hellenic Army who played an important role during the Greek Resistance.
Sarafis was born at Trikala in 1890, and studied law in the University of Athens. During the Balkan Wars, he enlisted in the Greek Army as a sergeant, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1913. He became a Venizelist, and played an active role in the various military conspiracies that were formed during the troubled 1920s. He participated in the two failed Venizelist coup attempts of 1933 and 1935. The latter was led by Nikolaos Plastiras and intended to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Panagis Tsaldaris. The failure of the coup resulted in the execution of its leader for treason and dishonorable discharges for several of the participants. Sarafis himself was condemned to life imprisonment, but was pardoned by the government.
Sarafis was exiled to the island of Milos which was populated but had no connection to military activities. He was thus effectively isolated from possible contacts with active Army members. In 1938, Sarafis was introduced to Marion Pascoe, an English student of the University of Oxford who visited the island to pursue her studies of archaeology. However her limited knowledge of the Greek language prevented her from effectively communicating with the locals.
Sarafis was reportedly the only person on the island with working knowledge of the English language and volunteered to help her in communicating. Their private conversations over political beliefs and the History of Greece resulted in her lifelong interest in Greek matters. Marion later claimed to have fallen in love with Sarafis at this point.
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