# Kiriakou's grandmother arrested for espionage

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Kiriakou's grandmother arrested for espionage," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-grandmother-arrested-1934/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The 1934 arrest of John Kiriakou's maternal grandmother in fascist-era Greece — married at fourteen to an eighteen-year-old man who had by then become an American citizen, she was picked up by the authorities on a bare espionage charge Kiriakou attributes to her being married to *"I Amerikanida"* — the American woman. Kiriakou's grandfather bought her way out by bribing the prison guard with American magazines, and the couple then boarded a ship to the United States, arriving as immigrants in 1934.*

- **Origin:** Kattavia, southern Rhodes
- **Age at marriage:** 14 (her husband was 18)
- **Year of arrest:** 1934
- **Government:** Fascist Greece
- **Ostensible charge:** Espionage
- **Real reason (per Kiriakou):** Marriage to a Greek man who had become an American citizen — she was called *"I Amerikanida"*, the American woman
- **How she got out:** Kiriakou's grandfather bribed the prison guard with American magazines
- **Exit:** The couple snuck onto a ship and reached the United States in 1934

**Kiriakou's grandmother arrested for espionage** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s account of the 1934 arrest, in fascist Greece, of the woman who would become his maternal grandmother — and the specific reason his mother's side of the family became American.

## The arrest

*"My mother's parents came in 1934. The fascists had taken over in Greece, Greek fascists. And my Yia Yia was arrested because she was married to a Greek man who had become an American. They just called her 'I Amerikanida' and they arrested her."*[1][2]

## The pretext

Asked on what grounds, Kiriakou's answer: *"For espionage. Just because she happened to be married to an — she got married when she was 14 years old. My Pappou was 18 years old."*[2]

## The American-magazines bribe

*"My Pappou bribed the prison guard with American magazines and she got out. They snuck onto a ship and they came, in 1934."*[2]

## See also

- [Rhodes](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/rhodes)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. John Kiriakou New Posdcast #14 - Secrets That Have Never Been Revealed (2026-06-01), at 01:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak-KFGimFkA&t=61s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-john-kiriakou-new-posdcast-14-secrets-that-have-never-been/
2. John Kiriakou New Posdcast #14 - Secrets That Have Never Been Revealed (2026-06-01), at 01:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak-KFGimFkA&t=91s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-john-kiriakou-new-posdcast-14-secrets-that-have-never-been/

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