Aleka Papariga
Aleka Papariga (Greek: Αλέκα Παπαρήγα) (born 1945) is a communist Greek politician who has served the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) as its general secretary, since 1991. She is the first woman to head the party.
She was born in Athens in 1945. Her parents were Resistance fighters and members of the KKE.
Papariga has graduated from the historical-Archeological Section of the Philosophy Faculty of Athens University.
She worked as an employee during 8 years in various enterprises' accounting offices, because then it was impossible to have a public job for political reasons. At the same time she worked as private teacher. Since 1976 she is employed exclusively in party and social activities.
Her first social activities were in 1961 in the peace movement and nearly immediately afterwards she joined the pupils’ organization of the youth section of EDA party. Participated in the school movement of the "15%", in the "114" struggle and in the students movement up to April 21, 1967. Throughout this period, she was a member of the Bureau of the EDA youth section pupils’ organization and then of the "Lambrakis" Democratic Youth Students’ organization Bureau. She has also been a leading cadre of the Athens Pupils’ organization, formed during the "15%" struggle.
During the dictatorship, she joined the KKE and has been active in the political prisoners’ families’ movement.
With the end of the dictatorship, she became a member of the Bureau of the City Committee of the Athens Party Organization (KOA), then active in the women's movement. A founding member of the Women's Federation of Greece, she participated in the organization of national events for International Women Day. Leading cadre of the women's movement up to 1981, and then active in the Athens Party Organization up to 1991. During her activities in the women's movement, she participated in international congresses of the World Women Democratic Federation, the UNO, and in international theoretical meetings as well.
She is the author of books on women's emancipation.
Papariga is a member of the Central Committee of KKE since the 10th Congress (May 1978) and of the Central Committee PB since 1986. Since 1991, she is General Secretary of the Central Committee of KKE.
