Plans are officially underway to immortalize Despina Achladioti, the legendary “Lady of Ro,” with a bronze statue on the very islet where she defied the odds for decades.
Yesterday, the Mayor of Kastellorizo, Nikolaos Asvestis, accompanied by acclaimed sculptor Evangelos Tympas, visited the rocky islet of Ro to finalize the monument’s location. The group paid their respects at Achladioti’s gravesite before selecting a dramatic site for the tribute: a 10-meter-high rock overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
The statue will depict the “Lady of Ro” in her most iconic stance—unyielding as she raises the Greek flag. Achladioti moved to the deserted island in 1924 and, from 1943 until her death in 1982, performed the daily ritual of raising and lowering the blue-and-white flag every sunrise and sunset, even during the Axis occupation.
“This work is a timeless message of self-denial and national dignity,” Mayor Asvestis noted. “It is a small token of gratitude for her service and a reminder of our own debt to our heritage.”
Lady of Ro had a purpose
Eikones magazine wrote about the woman, saying that:
“Μost people live their lives without a purpose. Despina Achladiotou’s life has a purpose: to let passing ships know the islet of Ro is Greek. As soon as she spots a ship, she runs to the mast that has been set up on the beach, and raises and lowers the Greek flag several times. And the ship, according to the international courtesy rules of the sea, raises and lowers its own flag.”
These were the opening sentences of the April 1956 article in Eikones, which made the “Lady with the Flag” famous across the nation.