The Cretan Runner

The Cretan Runner

George Psychoundakis (Greek: Γεώργιος Ψυχουντάκης, November 3, 1920 – January 29, 2006) was a Greek Resistance fighter on Crete during the Second World War. He was a shepherd, a war hero and an author. He served as dispatch runner between Petro Petrakas and Papadakis behind the German lines for the Cretan resistance Movement and later, from 1941 to 1945, for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). During the postwar years he was at first mistakenly imprisoned as a deserter. There he wrote his memoirs, which achieved worldwide success. Later he translated key classical Greek texts into the Cretan dialect.