The turbulent political climate of Greece during the early-to-mid 20th century was host to tens of government coups and several dozen political parties. They had names like 4th of August Party and Pandemocratic Agrarian Front and championed every ideology one could imagine. But on the island of Crete in 1950, a person's political foundations could be well-enough surmised by whether they sided with one of two social-political-familial groups: the clan of the Petracogeorgi family or the clan of the Kephaloyannis family. The two Cretan clans were bitter rivals, and each was ubiquitous in Hellenic politics.
Incomplete Glossary of Terms
Liberals; Venizelists- Opposition group to Greek Monarchy.
Populists, Royalists- Supported 1935 reinstatement of King George II after his 1924 exile and later supported Monarchy under King Paul.
Eleftherios Venizelos- Cretan revolutionary and political leader; held several terms as Prime Minister of Greece during early 20th century; principle founder of Liberal party.
Sophocles Venizelos- Son of Eleftherios Venizelos; held several terms as Prime Minister of Greece during mid 20th century.
George Petracogeorgi- Cretan; Liberal member of Parliament.
Manuel Kephaloyannis- Cretan, Populist member of Parliament
Tassoula Petracogeorgi- George's daughter
Constantine Kephaloyannis- Manuel's brother
The Petracogeorgis (Liberals) were pinnacle in establishing a functioning government-in-exile during the Axis occupation of Greece. Family members and allies occupied the Hellenic Parliament and other government positions throughout the mid 20th century, and their influence casts a shadow on Greek politics today. The Kephaloyanniss (Populists) were key players in the British-aided local resistance against German occupation. They too had members who held seats in Parliament, held high rank in the gendarmerie, and progenated current popular statesmen. The two families were for decades at odds, and both were host to armed supporters numbering in the hundreds.
Constantine and Tassoula
In August of 1950, Constantine Kephaloyannis, brother of Populist Party Parliament member Manuel Kephaloyannis, could contain no longer his passions for Tassoula Petracogeorgi, daughter of Liberal MP George Petracogeorgi. While Tassoula and her brother exited a movie theatre in the Crete capital of Heraklion, Constantine and five other men, armed with semi-automatic machine guns, stopped them and snatched Tassoula into a getaway car. A lawyer for Kephaloyannis would later explain: "Here in Crete, Sparta, and the ancient Greek land, it is common practice and tradition for strong men to steal their brides." Constantine said that he would have loved to court Tassoula out in the open, but the family rivalry prevented it.
Constantine, 32, carried the not-too-unwilling captive Tassoula, 19, into hiding among the caves surrounding Mount Ida. (Incidentally, this is where the goddess Rhea hid Zeus from the god Kronus.) There she fell in love with him, recounting to AP sources later: "My love developed as I was with him in the mountains. His behaviour and respect were beyond reproach."
The angry response of Tassoula's father, Liberal Parliament member George Petracogeorgi, warranted the intervention of Premier Sophocles Venizelos. Afraid of a possible civil war, Venizelos suspended certain constitutional privileges and instituted a 10,000,000 drachma fine on press releases related to the story. The international press, meanwhile, was no-doubt entertaining themselves with the exceedingly obvious parallel between George and the character Brabantio from Othello, but were simply too preoccupied with the threat of imminent bloodshed to actually employ such an overused reference and risk coming off hokey.
Trying to fend off war, Manuel, joined by representatives of the Petracogeorgi family, met the couple in a secret spot among the caves. There, the Kephaloyannis patriarch plead with his younger brother's dearest love to go back to her father to quell the tension that had erupted after her abduction. She refused, stating that she loved Constantine and was there on her own free will. Manuel left with the plea: "When 5000 soldiers and gendarmes move in to capture you, don't try to shoot your way out. Surrender." The couple was prepared to kill themselves in the mountains, rather than be captured and reseperated. I know what you're all thinking: this story is almost exactly like a mix between the plots of Air Bud 4 and Timecop
Constantine's Arrest and Release
Liberal Primier Sophocles Venizelos arranged, after negotiations with George Petracogeorgi, that Constantine and Tassoula be given safe passage to Athens. There, if Tassoula would affirm that she was with Constantine by her own free will, then they would be allowed a marriage. All parties consented and the Archbishop wed them. Shortly thereafter, at the insistence of Tassoula's father, Constantine was arrested for kidnapping, forming an armed band, and other weapons charges.
Tassoula, now pregnant, signed an affidavit in lieu of appearing in trial. Reports streamed in steadily throughout the hearings of her being bedridden weeping for the court to "bring Constantine back to me." And she even threatened to formally write the queen in appeal to her husband's defense. Meanwhile, Petracogeorgi charged the Kephaloyanniss with carrying out a psychological seduction campaign that involved Manuel entertaining Tassoula at Athen's nightspots while her husband was behind bars.
In February of 1951, Constantine was sentenced to two years in prison on weapons charges. Because the decision had been reached using a Greek emergency law, it was ineligible for appeal. Constantine remained in jail until August, when King Paul commuted his sentence.
Tassoula's Departure
Three months after Constantine's release, in January of 1952, the couple had an explosive fight. Tassoula reportedly ran to a police station in Heraklion and threatened to commit suicide if her father wouldn't take her back. She said that her and Constantine were incompatible, and that the differences between the two families were too much. It is also indicated that she fancied Athens while Constantine wanted to remain in Crete. The marriage was annulled after some legal manoeuvring by Tassoula's father. Constantine was quoted: "I feel only sorry for having loved so much a woman without a heart, without feelings - a selfish creature."
English sources are pretty sparse on what happened after that. Tassoula remarried in 1954, this time to a Greek physician living in Athens. Constantine remained in Crete and looked after his family's immense olive farming interests. Several Greek-language books were published on the episode, to the disappointment of both families.
Footnotes
- Here is the story recounted above told in actual
headlines. If you're looking for a pattern, what they all have in common
is a strong yet not-forced used of action verbs: Cretan Hunters Halt Search for 'Romeo,' 'Juliet'...Greeces Juliet Asks Father to Bless Union With Jailed Romeo...Crete's Modern Romeo Tossed In Jail; His Bride Is Hidden Away... Greek Romeo Released from Prison... Juliet Returns to Father, Ends Modern Greek Idyll... Greek Juliet Wins Divorce.
- Years prior to this episode, George Petracogeorgi and Constantine Kephaloyannis both played important roles in the Cretan resistance against Nazi occupation. British officers W. Stanley Moss and Patrick Leigh Fermor, who helped lead the resistance, both became wildly successful writers after the war and to many are known primarily for their literary works. Both authors have written accounts of the Cretan resistance that are peppered with references to the the roles George and Constantine played in the fight. Fermor, who developed an extended god-family throughout the conflict by accepting the role of godfather for children of Greek soldiers, was a god-brother to Constantine. Given the widespread tradition of godparenting among Cretan soldiers, it's not unlikely that George and Constantine were thus related.
- The full title to Air Bud 4 is Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch.
An AP story from September 1, 1950, reported that in the wake of Tassoula's abduction, thousands of police and soldiers flooded the small towns of central Crete to keep the peace. As this was the largest government presence the isolated villages had seen in recent memory, the state took the opportunity to collect on the townspeople's taxes.
