The funeral service for Lena Samara, daughter of former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras who died Thursday August 7 at age 34, will be held Monday August 11 at 1:00 PM. With a brief but heartbreaking social media post, Antonis Samaras announced: “On Monday, August 11, we will bid farewell to our Lena, at the Holy Church of Saints Theodore at the First Cemetery of Athens, at 1:00 PM”.
Lena Samara: grief over sudden death of Antonis Samaras’ daughter
An epileptic seizure, apparently caused by a possible cerebral hemorrhage, forced doctors at Athens’ “Sismanoglio” hospital to order the emergency transfer of former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ daughter, Lena Samara, to Athens’ “Evangelismos” hospital, where she was intubated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Lena could not survive…
Read: Antonis Samaras’ daughter dies at age 34
The greatest tragedy struck on Thursday evening August 7 when Antonis Samaras and his wife, Georgia Kritikou, watched their daughter Lena Samara suffer cardiac arrest and die at “Evangelismos” hospital at just 34 years old. Lena’s parents were in an adjacent room at the hospital when their daughter took her last breath.
It’s worth noting that Lena’s health condition deteriorated so rapidly that her two transfers – first to “Sismanoglio” and then to “Evangelismos” – were carried out by private means rather than ambulances from the National Center for Emergency Care (EKAB). Doctors made tireless and superhuman efforts to keep Lena alive, but in vain…
It should be noted that one in 100 epileptic seizures annually cannot be reversed and can lead to death in people who usually have other underlying conditions. If the patient doesn’t suffer chronically from epilepsy, an epileptic seizure can be caused by brain hemorrhage. In this case, the cause of death is not epilepsy, but the cerebrovascular episode or other cause that triggered the epileptic seizure.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis posted on his personal Facebook and X platform accounts: “Every word proves small and weak before the magnitude of such grief. The sudden and so unfair loss of Lena Samara shocks us all. Mareva and I are thinking of Antonis and Georgia. Their pain is our pain. Courage…“
Who was 34-year-old Lena Samara
Eleni-Danae Samara was named after her grandmother Eleni-Lena Zanna. She was the great-great-granddaughter of author Penelope Delta.
She graduated from Athens College in 2008. One of her closest friends from then until today was Lilian-Venetia Vildiridis, who is now the General Secretary of Health Services at the Ministry of Health, and who rushed to “Evangelismos” as soon as the tragic news became known to see her beloved best friend Lena for the last time.
Lena’s passion was tennis. In 2007 she participated in the Athens College student team in the Heart-to-Heart Partnership Program, an event organized by the Greek embassy in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.
She later followed her mother’s professional footsteps and studied civil engineering at City University London.
Lena Samara stood by her father’s side in January 2009 when he took over the Ministry of Culture, just as she did later when Antonis Samaras was elected president of New Democracy.
Condolence messages from the political world
The sad news of her death caused a wave of support from political leaders and officials from all parties, who rushed to express their solidarity with the former Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his grief over Lena Samara’s death in a post. “Every word proves small and weak before the magnitude of such grief,” he characteristically noted in his post, adding: “The sudden and so unfair loss of Lena Samara shocks us all. Mareva and I are thinking of Antonis and Georgia. Their pain is our pain. Courage…”
“The mind cannot comprehend this about Lena Samara! We are all shocked by the loss of this 34-year-old girl. My thoughts, everyone’s thoughts, are with her parents, Antonis and Georgia! May God give them strength,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.
Defense Minister Nikos Dendias also expressed his condolences: “My sincere condolences to Georgia and Antonis Samaras for the loss of their daughter, Lena.”
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis wrote: “Unbearable pain. The greatest. Words are poor before such a tragic event. Sincere condolences to Antonis Samaras and his family. Courage and strength.”
“The sudden loss of Antonis and Georgia Samaras’ beloved daughter has shocked us. My sincere condolences. Courage and strength. My thoughts are with them”, wrote PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis on X.
“With sincere grief I express my warm condolences to Antonis Samaras and his family for the loss of their beloved daughter, Lena. Faced with this tragic loss and the unspeakable burden for the parents, I wish strength and courage to him and his family”, wrote SYRIZA leader Socrates Famellos on X.
A condolence message also came from KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas: “My sincere condolences to Antonis Samaras, his wife Georgia and their family for the tragic loss of their beloved daughter, Lena. At times like these words are superfluous, only courage and strength to all.”
Democratic Movement president Stefanos Kasselakis wrote in a post: “At such times words are poor. I express my deep condolences to the family of Antonis and Georgia Samaras for the loss of their daughter, Lena.”
