Statement of the Central Committee on the Death of the Veteran Communist cde Betty Ambatielou

The Central Committee announces the death of comrade Betty Ambatielou, veteran communist, dedicated to the cause of the working class, to communism and the KKE. She was born in South Wales, October 1917. Her father was a coal miner. Her maiden name was Bartlett. She studied and worked as a teacher.

In 1939 she became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, which she served in various positions of responsibility and in 1943 became a member of its Central Committee. In 1944 she married the seaman, cadre of the KKE, Antonis Ampatielos and in 1945 moved to Greece and became a member of the KKE.

As a correspondent of the Daily Worker, she denounced to the workers of Great Britain the savage terrorism, execution, torture of Greek communists and militants of the EAM movement. In 1949 she went to London, where she played a leading role in the creation of the League for Democracy in Greece, which had as its main goal the salvation of thousands of communists who had been condemned to death as well as the release of political prisoners. In 1963 she became known all over the world, when during the visit of Frederica to London, at the head of a large demonstration of Greeks and Cypriots she attempted to visit her and give her a petition which demanded the release of the political prisoners. The request was rejected. On the same day, Frederica attempted to leave the Claridge Hotel by the back door and found herself confronted by demonstrators and Betty Ambatielos held her by the shoulders preventing her leaving. In 1967 she was arrested by the Colonels’ Dictatorship and after being held for weeks in a camp, she was deported to Britain against her will. In 1968 she defended the revolutionary characteristics of the Party and worked for the regroupment of the party organizations abroad. In 1974 she returned to Greece and worked for the International Relations Section of the CC. At the 10^th and 11^th Congresses of the Party she was elected as a reserve member of the CC. Her funeral will be a civil ceremony and will take place 4 pm on Monday 17 October in the Anastaseos cemetery in Piraeus.