"Female Freedom Fighter" a Spetses Island Travel Page by janetanne

Laskarina Bouboulina

Bouboulina! An illustrious name that arouses feelings of patriotism, sacrifice and bravery in the heart of every Greek. She is the celebrated heroine of the sea, one of the most famous figures in Greek history.

May 11th 1771, when her mother, Skevo, visited her dying husband, Stavrianos Pinotsis, who had been imprisoned by the Turks. The arrest and imprisonment of Pinotsis was due to his participation in the Peloponnesian revolution of 1769-70 against the Turks. This revolution, which is known in Greek history as the Orlof revolution, subsequently failed. At this time Spetses island was almost totally destroyed by the Turks for taking part in the uprising.

The year 1811 finds Bouboulina twice widowed and the mother of seven children, but at the same time, extremely rich from the fortunes of ships, land and cash inherited from her husbands. The cash alone which she inherited from Bouboulis, was over 300,000 tallara – Spanish golden sovereigns of those days. She managed not only to keep this fortune intact but also to increase it due to her good management and successful trading. She became partner in several Spetsiot vessels and in time managed to build three of her own. Among these was the famous "Agamemnon", the first and the largest Greek fighting ship of the 1821 War of Independence, whose construction cost Bouboulina 75,000 tallara.