Charilaos Florakis
Encyclopedia
Charilaos Florakis was a leader of the Communist Party of Greece
(KKE).
Florakis was born on 20 July 1914 in the village of Paliozoglopi, located near Agrafa
in the Itamos
municipality, prefecture
of Karditsa
, Greece
. He joined KKE, in 1941. An ELAS partisan
during the resistance to the Nazi occupation in World War II
, Florakis was on the losing side of the Greek Civil War
that followed the liberation of the country, and subsequently left the country.
in the beginning of the 1967-74 military dictatorship
.
that crushed the Prague Spring
. That show of brute strength led many Greek communists to break with the Moscow-oriented KKE and to join one of the factions that emerged.
Synaspismos was created partly at the instigation of Florakis, and drew members from both the KKE and the KKE-Interior Eurocommunists
. It also became an umbrella for other leftist groups and disaffected supporters of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
of Andreas Papandreou
, which lost the general election in 1989.
and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
— the party officially withdrew all support from Synaspismos and Florakis was elected honorary president of the KKE.
on 22 May 2005. Florakis' body lay in state at the KKE headquarters in Perissos on May 24–25 where thousands of party members and sympathisers queued to pay their respects. Party leader Aleka Papariga
addressed a civil funeral on the evening of May 25 which was attended by the President of Greece Karolos Papoulias
, prime minister Costas Karamanlis, parliament speaker Anna Benaki-Psarouda, opposition Pasok party leader George Papandreou
, Left Coalition leader Alekos Alavanos
, Cypriot communist party AKEL leader and Cyprus parliament speaker Dimitris Christofias
, many ministers and MPs and other dignitaries. He was interred on May 26 at the Agios Ilias cemetery in his native village.
Communist Party of Greece
Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...
(KKE).
Florakis was born on 20 July 1914 in the village of Paliozoglopi, located near Agrafa
Agrafa
Agrafa is a mountainous region in Evrytania and Karditsa prefectures in mainland Greece, consisting mainly of small villages. It is the southernmost part of the Pindus range...
in the Itamos
Itamos
Itamos is a former municipality in the Karditsa peripheral unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Karditsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 4,726 . The seat of the municipality was in Kallithiro....
municipality, prefecture
Prefecture
A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
of Karditsa
Karditsa
Karditsa is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa peripheral unit.Inhabitation is attested from 9000 BCE. Karditsa ls linked with GR-30, the road to Karpenisi, and the road to Palamas and Larissa...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. He joined KKE, in 1941. An ELAS partisan
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation by some kind of insurgent activity...
during the resistance to the Nazi occupation in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Florakis was on the losing side of the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
that followed the liberation of the country, and subsequently left the country.
Political activities
On his return to Greece in 1954 he was arrested. During his life he spent 18 years in detention or jail - including being put in internal exile by the Greek colonelsGreek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...
in the beginning of the 1967-74 military dictatorship
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
.
After the Metapolitefsi
First elected to parliament in 1974, Florakis led KKE as its general secretary from 1972 until 1989, when, though still fit for the job, he announced his decision to step down from the party's top post and proposed Grigoris Farakos as his successor.Break from KKE
Florakis did not retire from politics, however. In the same year he retired from the leadership of the KKE, he was approved as the president of the newly-founded Synaspismos or Coalition of the Left. Synaspismos was an attempt to reconcile Greece's two main communist factions, which arose in 1968 out of the Soviet intervention in CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
that crushed the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
. That show of brute strength led many Greek communists to break with the Moscow-oriented KKE and to join one of the factions that emerged.
Synaspismos was created partly at the instigation of Florakis, and drew members from both the KKE and the KKE-Interior Eurocommunists
Eurocommunism
Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties to develop a theory and practice of social transformation that was more relevant in a Western European democracy and less aligned to the influence or control of the Communist Party of the Soviet...
. It also became an umbrella for other leftist groups and disaffected supporters of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...
of Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...
, which lost the general election in 1989.
Return to KKE
In 1991, as it became increasingly clear that Soviet communism would not last, a rift arose within the KKE between those who supported continuing efforts towards a reconciliation with the Euro-communists through Synaspismos, and orthodox communists who felt that communism was threatened internationally and favoured a return to ideological roots. Florakis sided with the latter and at the 13th KKE conference in early 1991 —even before the fall of Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
and the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
— the party officially withdrew all support from Synaspismos and Florakis was elected honorary president of the KKE.
Death
Florakis died of heart failure at his home in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
on 22 May 2005. Florakis' body lay in state at the KKE headquarters in Perissos on May 24–25 where thousands of party members and sympathisers queued to pay their respects. Party leader Aleka Papariga
Aleka Papariga
Alexandra "Aleka" Papariga is a communist Greek politician who has served the Communist Party of Greece as its General Secretary since 1991. She is the first woman to head a political party in Greece.- Early years :...
addressed a civil funeral on the evening of May 25 which was attended by the President of Greece Karolos Papoulias
Karolos Papoulias
-Honours:*Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic *Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav *Knight of the Order of the Elephant- External links :*...
, prime minister Costas Karamanlis, parliament speaker Anna Benaki-Psarouda, opposition Pasok party leader George Papandreou
George Andreas Papandreou
Georgios A. Papandreou , commonly anglicised to George and shortened to Γιώργος in Greek, is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece following his party's victory in the 2009 legislative election...
, Left Coalition leader Alekos Alavanos
Alekos Alavanos
Alekos Alavanos is a Greek politician, member of the Hellenic Parliament, former member of the European Parliament. From 2004 until 2008 he was president of the Coalition of the Left of Movements and Ecology, commonly known as Synaspismos...
, Cypriot communist party AKEL leader and Cyprus parliament speaker Dimitris Christofias
Dimitris Christofias
Dimitris Christofias also Demetris is a left-wing Greek Cypriot politician and the current and sixth President of the Republic of Cyprus. Christofias was the General Secretary of AKEL and is Cyprus's first, and the European Union's first and so far only, communist head of state. He won the 2008...
, many ministers and MPs and other dignitaries. He was interred on May 26 at the Agios Ilias cemetery in his native village.
Awards
Florakis received many awards during his lifetime for his multiple achievements and political activities:- People's Friendship Award, from the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
- Order of Karl MarxOrder of Karl MarxThe Order of Karl Marx was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic . Award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks....
, from the German Democratic RepublicGerman Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city... - Dimitrov Prize, from the People's Republic of Bulgaria
- Lenin Peace PrizeLenin Peace PrizeThe International Lenin Peace Prize was the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among peoples"...
, from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionCentral Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionThe Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
in 1984