Peristera Kraka

Peristera Kraka (; 1860–1938), also known by her nom-de-guerre Kapetan Spanovangelis , was a Greek commander of rebel forces during the 1878 Greek Macedonian rebellion; demanding the nullification of the Treaty of San Stefano that granted much of Ottoman Macedonia to Bulgaria, and the unification of Macedonia with Greece.

Biography

She was born in Siatista, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire in 1860. This amnesty was violated by the Turks, and Peristera was forced to leave Macedonia (which was still under Ottoman rule) and take refuge in Thessaly. She settled in Ampelonas, where she met with a comrade of hers, named Nikolaos Apostolou (or Perdikas). She married Apostolou in 1882, with whom she eventually had two daughters, named Anneta and Eleni. Apostolou was once arrested and imprisoned in Aegina; being accused of robbery. Peristera went to Athens and requested to meet with King George I, from whom she asked amnesty for her husband. According to tradition, she participated in a shooting match at the Shooting Range of Kaisariani, where she competed with the best shooters and won all of them. The King admired her shooting skills, and thus granted the requested amnesty. After 8 years of marriage, Apostolou was murdered in 1890. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Peristera's house was burned down by the Turks. Around 1898, Peristera was married for a second time, to someone named Papagianopoulos; with whom she had one son, named Charilaos. Her second husband also died in 1902. Peristera lived the rest of her life in Ampelonas; devoted to raising her children. She died in 1938. In 1990, a statue was raised in her honor, at her native town of Siatista.