“Grandma Militsa,” she was called, and she turned around and smiled! She liked being recognized by everyone. AND three grandmothers they liked it”.

OUR Evantia Chalkiotis talks with “K” about the famous Militsa Cambisi from Sikamiya Rock. Last Monday, she and her three siblings said goodbye to their 90-year-old mother. the last grandmother in an iconic October 2015 photograph by photographer Lefteris Partsalis. and became a symbol of humanity and solidarity during the refugee crisis in Greece.

In a photo that – indeed – next year was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prizethree old women of Lesvos, cousins ​​Efstratia and Maritza Mavrapidi look at the baby from Syria with love and devotion while their friend Milica Kambisi bottle feeds him. The baby had just stepped off the refugee boat that had arrived at Skala Sikamias, and his mother had entrusted him into their hands until she could put on dry clothes.

The image is powerful, it evokes emotions, and three women under a plane tree, who do not even suspect that the photographer captured the moment, overnight become the most beloved grandmothers in the whole world.

“Since the day we lost my mother, we have received messages from everywhere. From Greece, from Canada, from Australia. Those who met her want to express their condolences, ”says Evantia Chalkiotis.

Her mother, as well as her two dear friends, Evstratia and Maritsa, for several years met refugees from the Aegean Sea under an old plane tree. The images in their minds were related to the experiences of their own mothers, who arrived many decades ago as refugees in Sikamia. How could they turn their backs on them now?

“They smiled at the people arriving here by boat and patted their shoulders. And they said “thank you” when they set foot on the land of Lesbos. “Why aren’t they attacking him? Is our land? my mother used to say,” Evantia, 63, recalls, adding that more or less the entire village helped mothers with young children who arrived exhausted from the sea.

Milica had four children who, in recent years, took care of her day and night, reciprocating the love that she generously gave them all her life.

“She was proud to have us by her side. He was a person who gave all of us wishes and advice,” says Mrs. Halkioti. She remembers one of her mother’s frequent pieces of advice: “Work conquers all,” she told us, because she worked hard to get her daughters married. He didn’t even buy a new pair of slippers to do it. In the summer he worked in olive groves, in restaurants. She was a very hardworking woman, and both she and my father lost him 25 years ago.”

Milica Cambisi was also one of the best seamstresses in the area, as her daughter boasts today. “My grandfather brought a Singer sewing machine when he came to Sykamia from Moshonisia. Since there was a typewriter at home, my mother used it and learned to sew. She made clothes for many on the island, she was good at it. Until last year, he still succeeded.

“In these three women, each of us saw his grandmother”

On his photo Lefteri Parkalis, a newly born baby, is “wrapped” in the love and tenderness of three women – towards the end of their life cycle. This element alone makes the image powerful,” says the photographer, reminding us how “grandmother” occupies a sacred role in Greek society..

“That’s where I think the power of this photo is. In three old women, each of us saw her grandmother. Their example will not be extinguished with their death. The image will always be there to remind us of the humanity and solidarity they taught us through simple action,” says Mr Partsalis K.

A few months later, the photographer of Lesvos’ legendary grandmothers visited them again to print their photographs. In subsequent years, he continued to travel to the island, covering missions on the refugee problem. Each time, he said, he stole some time to go to Skala Sikamias.

“I tried to walk past there to at least say “good evening”. The last time I saw Milica was in 2020. There was so much praise around the photo that I don’t know what else one would expect to hear from these women. “We did the obvious”that’s what they said every time they were asked,” he says.

What do you remember most about them? I asked him.

“From these people you learn from simple everyday conversations. What I remember is that when I met them, it was like meeting another of my grandmothers, they made me feel so beautiful. I will never forget Milica’s last wishes to the whole world, to me, to everything. The incessant wishes “that everyone be well, that they be healthy, that the kosmaks and morelias not be tyrannized,” many wishes. This means I keep the kindness that was overflowing.

“Just write what a good woman she was”

Until the end, Grandma Milica had a clear mind and remembered everything that she experienced until she was 90 years old. However, in recent months she seemed more tired, ate less and, as she told her daughters, was now waiting for her turn. She has already lost two of her dear friends, Eustratia from February 22 and Maritsa from January 19.
“We did not tell her about Ephstratia, but they came to bring her bread, and she found out. He was shocked. “When, when did this happen?” – he asked. The last time they fought was at Panagia Rusalka. We took her in a stroller to weddings, which she really liked, ”says her daughter.

OUR last news what he heard a few days before the death of grandmother Milica belonged to a railway worker tragedy in Tempe. “She pursed her cheeks to show shock and sadness.” says Evantia Halkioti.

Before I hang up, I thank her for telling me about her mother. “My girl, you don’t need to write much, just write that she was a good woman,” he replied.