Daily Mail: Betty, the woman who radicalized Greece's 'Che' (photos)

The attention is on Greece’s new radical left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, considered the man of the moment, but the Daily Mail decided to pay tribute to Peristera (Betty) Batziana, the woman “behind the man”. In an article entitled, “Woman who radicalized the ‘Greek Che Guevara’: How publicity-shy first lady helped new PM lead a communist student revolt”.

The article says Tsipras’ long-time partner had urged the 40-year-old to become politicized when, in his youth, he was more interested in sport. The Daily Mail states that meeting Ms. Batziana, and a knee injury, caused him to divert his attention from sport to radical leftist activism and, just a year later, they were leading a reform against unpopular — as far as Greece’s politicized pupils were concerned — of educational reforms at a high school in the Ampelokipoi district of Athens.

Tsipras’ family is described as bourgeois, as they say Europe, or solidly well-off and middle class, as they say “across the pond”. It is Batziana that is described as “strong-willed, militant and dynamic”, so say friends at the University of Patras where she once took one of her university professors to court for undermining her thesis.

Amongst her dislikes, apart from perceived injustice and global capitalism, are shopping and being in the media spotlight. Public appearances have been few.

Power couple: Peristera 'Betty' Batziana convinced Greece's new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to join the Communist Youth of Greece in 1990 after they had met three years earlier at high school in Athens

Publicity-shy: The couple, who graduated from university as engineers, are rarely seen together in public

Couple: Mr Tsipras and Ms Batziana got together in 1987 when they were at high school together in Athens

They live with their two children, the youngest called Ernesto as tribute to Che Guevara, in a seven-storey flat in Kypseli – a modest, working-class area of Athens. Mr. Tsipras takes out the rubbish and the couple did not get married in a church, prefering instead to take advantage of the cohabitation law in effect since 2009. Avoiding the perks of political life, Mr Tsipras still opts to get around on a motorbike, flies economy and has never been seen wearing a tie.