Stavriana Savvaina – Fighter of the Revolution of 1821
Stavriana Savvaina (also known as Lakaina) was born in 1772 in Parori in Mystras Laconia. At a young age, she married the wealthy prefect of Sparta and a member of the Society of Friends, Georgakis Savvas (hence the surname Savvaina), who was hanged by the Turks in 1821. After her husband's death, she joined her own askeri (group of fighters), which consisted of women, in the military corps of chieftain Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis, taking part in many battles. Specifically, Stavriana Savvaina fought in the Fall of Tripolitsa, in the Battle of Valtetsi (12th-13th May 1821), in the Battle of Trikorfa (23rd June 1824), in Almyros, in the Battle of Diros, as well as in battles in Central Greece together with Theodoros Kolokotroni and members of the Mavromichalis family.
Callirroi Parren wrote about her in the historic "Ladies' Journal" (1887-1917) that she was: "...Around forty years old, dark-skinned, intelligent, with a masculine style, with a thunderous voice, with a soldier's demeanour" and adds: "Alone among of men, defied the bullets and carried the gunpowder from bastion to bastion. Those around Kolokotronis, Mavromichalis and Plapoutas found it difficult to believe that a woman had such courage."
She retired with the rank of major to Nafplio in a modest house next to the Gymnasium, where she lived until the end of her life. At one point, the state wanted to give a little financial support to the sidelined fighters and asked them to submit their papers. Then, poor Savvaina rushed to the "General Assembly" in Argos with her own request: "Gentlemen... I am a widow; I also have minor orphans... This did not prevent me from taking the weapons at the beginning of the holy war... I was first in the campaigns of the dear departed Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis, and then of other leaders in various places, namely in Euripon, Central Greece, in Valtetsi, in Trikorfa, in Almyron". (M. Lambrinidis, "Spartiatikon Imerologion (Spartan diaries)", 1907).
The answer was positive. She was given some help from the temporary Kapodistrias’ fund, and not from the state, while her two orphans, under his care, were placed in the orphanage. Later, her children were assigned to the "Oplostasion", the weapons factory. Under Otho, however, the Bavarians cut off the sponsorship that she was given. Finally, let us mention that Stavriana Savvaina remarried. However, her second husband was violent towards her, and she begged not to become a widow again and find a worse man. The outstanding fighter of the Greek Revolution passed away in 1868 in Nafplio, at a very old age, while a fundraiser had to be made for her funeral expenses.
