Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou has met with Militsa (Emilia) Kamvysi and Efrstratia Mavrapidou, two of the three elderly women who are known as the “Lesvos grandmas.”
Their famous moniker came about after they were captured by a local photographer helping a young Syrian mother who had just landed on the shores of Lesvos island after making the treacherous crossing from Turkey in October 2015.
“You are like grandmothers to all of us. You made us all proud and we thank you for that,” Sakellaropoulou told the two women, now in their 90s, during a visit to the seaside village of Skala Sykamias on the northern coast of the island on Tuesday.
Maritsa Mavrapidou, the third woman captured in the 2015 photo, died two years ago.
Kamvysi, who was bottle-feeding the baby in the photo, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016.
