Kostas Karagiorgis () was the alias of Kostas Gyftodimos (Κώστας Γυφτοδήμος), a prominent

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

who played an important role in the Greek Resistance and in the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

Early life and career

He was born in 1905 in the town of Limni in

Euboea Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...

. He studied at the Medical School of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, where he also became politically active as director of ''Neolaia'', the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Young Communist League of Greece (OKNE), and assistant editor of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece (, ΚΚΕ; ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. It was founded in 1918 as the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece (SEKE) and adopted its current name in Novem ...

's (KKE) official newspaper, ''

Rizospastis ''Rizospastis'' (, "The Radical") is a Greek daily newspaper based in Athens. It is the Organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece. It has been published daily since its first issue in 1916. Liana Kanelli is currently one ...

''. After a time in prison, he left Greece in 1931 and moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and thence to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1933. He worked there as correspondent of ''Rizospastis'', before moving to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He returned to Greece after the establishment of the dictatorial Metaxas Regime, but was arrested and imprisoned in

Aegina Aegina (; ; ) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the mythological hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. ...

. After completing his compulsory military service, he was sent to internal exile to the islands of

Sifnos Sifnos () is an island municipality in the Cyclades island group in Greece. The main town, near the center, known as Apollonia (pop. 918 as of 2021), is home of the island's folklore museum and library. The town's name is thought to come from an ...

and Kimolos, along with fellow KKE members Miltiadis Porfyrogenis, Chrysa Hatzivasileiou, and Petros Rousos.

World War II, Civil War, and aftermath

Following the start of the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

, they managed to escape. Karagiorgis returned to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where he played a major role in the Party's underground press and the mobilization of civil servants. In the December 1943 party congress, he was elected alternate member of the Central Committee, and sent to

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

to supervise the operations of the National Liberation Front (EAM) and its armed wing, the

Greek People's Liberation Army The Greek People's Liberation Army (, ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós''; ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance until February 1945, when, followi ...

(ELAS). Throughout the subsequent period until the end of the

Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

, he was the senior KKE and EAM official in Thessaly. In 1944 he was elected to the National Council. After liberation in 1944, he became director of ''Rizospastis'' and the weekly ''Rizos tis Defteras''. After the outbreak of the

and the closing of ''Rizospastis'', he fled Athens to the mountains of Thessaly, where he joined the Communist-run

Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; , ΔΣΕ; ''Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas'', DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At its height, it had a strength of around 50,000 men and w ...

(DSE). In March 1948, he was moved from Thessaly to the command of the DSE General Headquarters for Southern Greece. Heavily wounded in action, he was sent to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

to be operated on, and on his return was made a member of the communists' "Mountain Government" as Minister for War Supply (April 1949). After the defeat of the DSE and the end of the conflict in autumn 1949, he accused KKE General Secretary Nikos Zachariadis as responsible for the defeat, for which he was dismissed from all his Party offices and membership, and imprisoned in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He was interrogated by KKE members and by the Romanian ''

Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...

'', and died in prison in Mărăcineni, probably in 1955.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karagiorgis, Kostas 1905 births 1955 deaths Democratic Army of Greece personnel Greek communists Greek newspaper editors Escapees from Greek detention National Liberation Front (Greece) members Prisoners and detainees of Greece Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Thessaly in World War II National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni People from Euboea (regional unit) Exiles of the Greek Civil War