Marigo Zarafopoula (1796 - 1865)
Marigo Zarafopoula was a fighter of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and a member of the Friendly Society from Constantinople.
She was born in Tataula, Constantinople, where she lived. She was initiated into the Friendly Society and when, at the beginning of 1821, Asimakis Theodorou betrayed the secrets of the organization to the Ottoman authorities, she undertook, using her acquaintances with various officials, to get information about the incident, a mission which she carried out. At the same time, using the same acquaintances as well as her considerable wealth, she succeeded in the escape of the sons of Petrobeis Mavromichalis who were living in Constantinople as prisoners. When it was revealed that she and her merchant brother, Hatzivasilis, were involved in the Friendly Society, she was persecuted while her brother was executed on April 23, 1821. Finally, after great suffering, Zarafopoula managed to move to Hydra in the revolted Greece, taking with her a large sum of money which she set aside for the needs of the revolution.
In the Peloponnese, she was used by the Kolokotronis and Ypsilantis as a spy within Tripolitsa and Nafplio. In the following years, she financed the campaign of Favieros in Karystos as well as the corresponding one of Hatzimichalis Dalianis in Crete. In the midst of the revolution, she married the officer Georgios or Theodoros Stefanou who was killed fighting, having two children with him. She died destitute after 1865, the year in which she applied for a pension from the Board of Education.
Zarafopoula's contribution to the revolution was certified with relevant documents by several important chieftains such as Gennaios Kolokotronis, Hatzichristos, Nikitaras etc.