Left-wing activist and historian Dimitris Liviarados is “gone”.

He lived very close to what we call life “like a novel”. From the battles of ELAS and the Decembrians, in Makronissos, to the organization of an illegal factory that produced weapons for the anti-colonial struggle in Algeria, to the first steps in building PASOK, to the struggle for a revolutionary left, the history of labor struggle must be recorded.

At the same time he was prolific and one of the most important historians of the labor movement in our country.

Dimitris Livieratos “exited” on June 16, at the age of 96.

A life in combat

Born in Athens, Liviarados would be associated with the Trotskyist movement from an early age, but would also participate in the national liberation struggle. In fact, although he was only 17 years old, he would attend the ELAS Reserve Officers’ School in Retina and participate in the battles of the Decembrists.

He would remain active in the Trotskyist movement and participate in the formation of the Greek Communist International Party. Until his death, he was the last survivor of KDKE’s founding conference in 1946, in a valley in Benteli, under lawless conditions.

He will be exiled to Makronissos and upon his return he will participate in union related initiatives. Under the direction of Michalis Raptis, “Pablo”, he would actively participate in supporting the FLN’s struggle in Algeria to break free from the French colonial yoke. He would play a leading role in the Fourth International’s attempt at the time to set up an illegal arms factory in Morocco, which played an important role in the FLN’s struggle.

After the April 21 coup, he formed one of the first anti-dictatorship organizations, the Democratic Resistance Groups (DRC). He later fled to Germany and became associated with Andreas Papandreou’s PAK.

In the post-colonial period he participated in the construction of PASOK along with others from the Trotskyist camp. Indeed, in PASOK’s first steps, he would play a decisive role in promoting the “self-organization” line, mainly through an open appeal to those who accepted PASOK’s basic principles to form initiative groups. Get party status soon. Within PASOK, Liviarados, a member of the executive office, will play a key role in the political enlightenment of the young party. In 1976, PASOK would leave, and from then on it would place great importance on the writer’s celebration.

Rich writing work

From an early age Liviarados realized the importance of writing texts and books as part of the “Enlightenment” practice. His first book “The Black Continent” was published in 1962 and deals with the history of Africa and colonialism. The second was published in 1965 and is entitled “The Algerian Revolution”. After postcolonialism, he began his four-volume work on the history of the Greek labor movement in the period 1918–1932, the first volume published in 1976 and the last volume in 1994.

His other works are “July ’65. Explosion (with G. Karabelias). “Pantelis Bouliopoulos. An Intellectual Revolutionary.” “GSEE Conferences”. “Labor Day in Greece (1890-1999)”. “The Invisible Factory of Revolution (1959-1962)”. “Greek Trotskyism. A Chronicle 1923-1946 (with D. Katsoridas and K. Paloukis). “The Movement of 115. Social Struggle 1962-1967”. “Long hours of the working class: EKA 1910-1916, Labor EAM 1941, ERGAS 1945″. Petralona Once.” “The Petralonas We Lived.” “Secretaries of the CKE and KKE (1918-1991)”. “Overview of Greek History and Economy (19th-20th Century)”

A rich work that illustrates important aspects of the history of the Greek labor movement and the left by a man who never stopped writing and speaking about these issues at every opportunity.

Active until the end, he will support Andarcia and his last photo is on the Andarcia desk in Petralona in the May 21 election.