File:Velika Traikou Funeral Salonica.jpg

DescriptionVelika Traikou Funeral Salonica.jpg	English: Funeral of Velika Traikou. Konstantinos Mazarakis is the bald man in front with hat in his hand
Date	1904
Source	[1]
Author	Unknown authorUnknown author
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Velika Traikou (1883 - August 28, 1904)

Born in Pentalofos, north of Thessaloniki, she was a teacher and heroine, during the Macedonian Struggle (1904-08).

A bright and strong-willed girl from very young, after completing her education at the Girls High School of Thessaloniki, in 1900 she became a teacher in around the area of Edessa, a hot-bed of Bulgarian Komitatzi activity at the time. As a teacher she taught her students all about Hellenism and to be proud to be Greeks.

In 1901, Ion Dragoumis the deputy consul of the Greek Consulate in Monastiri, sought a person to relay secret messages between Giannitsa, Edessa & Kastoria and be able to pass through Bulgarian & Turkish controlled areas undetected.

Dragoumis was taken aback to see this small woman eager for the job. Very soon, he realised she was the right person for the mission.

She walked the roads disguised as a Bulgarian or Turk, taking with her and conveying messages of freedom to the Greeks of Macedonia. She could blend in as she could speak Greek, Turkish and Bulgarian & picked up on any conversations she overheard along the way, retrieving vital information.

In 1904 with the arrival in Macedonia of Pavlos Melas, a new impetus was given to the Greek Struggle for Macedonia, which made Velika Traikou’s job all the more important but also more dangerous.

In late August 1904 in Giannitsa, Velika Traikou would take her last breath as she was stabbed multiple times and hacked to death by a Bulgarian Komitatzi, who was trying to extract information out of her, she would not tell him anything.

Velika Traikou’s funeral was a huge event for the Greeks of Macedonia, as it acted to galvanise the population against Bulgarian and Turkish aggression and continue to the Struggle to liberate Macedonia.