Kolokotronis and Bouboulina become wax figures in Kavala

Theodoros Kolokotronis and Laskarina Bouboulina are two heroic figures of the Greek Revolution of 1821.

As this year celebrates 200 years of Greek Independence, artist Theodoros Kokkinidis created two new wax figures honouring them.

"The more I study their lives and their heroism, the greater the inspiration, admiration and awe that pushes me to honour them in my own way, through my art", Kokkinidis told ANA-MPA.

"These two emblematic figures (...) have already taken their place [at the Theodoros Kokkinidis Wax Museum] next to the wax figure of the first governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, whom I painted in 2019."

Theodoros Kolokotronis

Greek General Theodoros Kolokotronis is known as the ultimate symbol and leading figure of the Greek War of Independence, which took place from 1821 to 1830.

He is also known as the Elder of Morias.

His greatest success was the defeat of the Ottoman army under Mahmud Dramali Pasha at the Battle of Dervenakia in 1822.

In 1825, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in Peloponnese.

Today, Kolokotronis ranks as the most prominent figure in Greece’s War of Independence.

Laskarina Bouboulina

Laskarina Bouboulina (1771-1825) was a Greek revolutionary and naval commander.

An Arvanite Greek born in a Constantinople prison, Bouboulina was the daughter of a ship captain from the island of Hydra.

She married twice, first to a wealth shipowner and later to a Captain Bouboulis, whose name she took. When Bouboulis was killed by pirates, Bouboulina took over his trading business and began to amass her own fleet, commissioning the construction of four new ships.

In early 1821, the Filiki Eteria and other revolutionaries began the Greek War of Independence with support from Russia and other European powers. Twelve days before the war started Bouboulina was the first to raise the revolutionary flag, flying a modified Greek flag from the mast of the Agamemnon.

Over the course of the war Bouboulina was considered an equal with other revolutionary commanders and was involved in planning their strategy. She became good friends with General Theodoros Kolokotronis and their children later married.

Today she is remembered as a Greek national hero without whom the Greeks might never have gained their independence.

Sculptor Kokkinidis also revealed that Greek military commander Georgios Karaiskakis and Greek heroine Manto Mavrogenous are also in the process of being 'waxed'.

The Wax Museum of Theodoros Kokkinidis is located in the village Kipia, Eleftheroupolis Kavala at the municipality of Paggaio.

Today, the museum features wax figures of 21 Greeks and 12 other great personalities.

Museums and galleries across Greece will reopen soon with strict safety measures in place.

*More on GCT: Photos of the heroes of the 1821 Revolution adorn major street in Athens