Greek grandmother hailed as saviour by refugees, nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, dies at 93

A 93-year-old Greek grandmother, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for assisting refugees, passed away on Sunday (March 12), as reported by AFP.

In 2015, Emilia Kamvysi and two other elderly women shot to fame after they were seen bottle-feeding a refugee infant whose parents had just arrived on Lesbos, a Greek island, after a harrowing sea crossing.

More than a million refugees and migrants, many of them escaping the Syrian civil war, arrived at EU coastlines during the surge.

The funeral for Kamvysi will be held on Monday in her hamlet on Lesbos, according to the Greek national news agency ANA, which broke the news of her passing.

Emilia Kamvysi, who was 86 then, sitting on a bench along withtwo elderly neighbours—aged 89 and 85 then, bottle-feeding a Syrian refugee child. Photo credits: Twitter/Remei Calabuig

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The other two grandmothers already passed away: Efstratia Mavrapidou in 2022 and Maritsa Mavrapidou in 2019.

The trio said they had done nothing extraordinary.

"What did I do, my son?" Kamvysi, famously told Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

In February 2016, Kamvysi, who was 86 then was sitting on a bench along withtwo elderly neighbours—aged 89 and 85 then, bottle-feeding a Syrian refugee child. Afterthe picture went viral, the grannies became icons of Greek generosity to the refugees who have recently fled to Europe, as reported by USA Today.

(With inputs from agencies)

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