A Leftist and A Man of Ancient Faith

Manolis Glezos,who just turned 96,is a longtime leftist politician,activist and World War II resistance fighter.He came to prominence when,on 30 May 1941,he and his friend Apostolos Santas lowered the Nazi flag which German troops had raised at the Acropolis alongside the Greek flag.He was arrested by the German occupation forces on 24 March 1942,imprisoned and tortured,and contracted tuberculosis in consequence.What is more,Italian occupation forces arrested him again on 21 April 1943,jailing him for an additional three months.*
Indeed,Mr.Glezos was arrested numerous times in the Cold War era that followed as well,given the anti-left sentiment of the authorities at that time.The Soviet Union put him on a postage stamp and gave him the Lenin Prize.He spent a total of 11 years and four months in prison,plus four years and six months in exile.
As a member of the Democratic Left Party,or EDA,he was elected to his first seat in the Hellenic Parliament while imprisoned.He went on to serve several more times under EDA,the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and,most recently,the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA),which is currently in power.In 2014,he was elected to the European Parliament.*
Mr.Glezos has received a number of honourary degrees from the likes of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,among others.Besides politics,he has worked in civil engineering,inventing a flood and erosion control system that utilises a series of small dams.*
In 2015,Mr.Glezos met with His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.It was a surprising moment for the Archbishop when Mr. Glezos made an unusual request for a leftist politician:
When I die,you will take charge of me,and you will do an ecclesiastical funeral.You will not let other people get involved in this issue.*
Archbishop Ieronymos inscribed a book for him:
2 September 2015,the day of revelation to me...Because all that we said was a revelation to me.*
They also discussed the migration crisis,something which appalled Mr.Glezos,and he confided to Archbishop Ieronymos that he in fact loved and respected the faith of his fathers.*