He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968, but also for the torture to which he was subjected during his detention.

His father was from Divri (Lampeia) in Elis (Western Peloponnese) while his mother was from the Ionian island of Lefkada.

Panagoulis spent part of his childhood during the Axis occupation of Greece in the Second World War on this island.

He returned to Greece where, with the help of his collaborators, he organized the 13 August 1968 assassination attempt against Papadopoulos, close to Varkiza.

In an interview held after his liberation, Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci quoted Panagoulis as saying: I didn’t want to kill a man.

[1] He also stated that he had no regrets about his attempt to kill Papadopoulos as "he destroyed the legal government - he abolished the liberties of the people".

As a result of political pressure from the international community, the junta refrained from executing him and instead incarcerated him at the Bogiati (Boyati) Military Prison near Athens on 25 November 1968.

He reportedly received political pressure and threats against his life in order to persuade him to tone down his allegations.

While imprisoned at Bogiati, Panagoulis is said to have written his poetry on the walls of his cell or on small papers, often using his own blood as ink (as told in the poem "The Paint").

After his liberation he published his second collection in Milan under the title Vi scrivo da un carcere in Grecia (I write you from a prison in Greece) with an introduction by Pasolini.

He constitutes a rare instance of an attempted assassin being elevated to the status of hero of democracy due to his political ethos.

There is still growing suspicion regarding this, given that a minority of active current politicians in Greece are allegedly linked to the Colonels' regime and do not wish to promote Panagoulis' deeds.

[5] The Greek Ministry of Culture (under the minister Evangelos Venizelos) refused to contribute €1,500 in order to facilitate the translated publication of Panagoulis' poems.

[5] This has changed during the last years: by 2008, 22 streets in Athens and its suburbs are named after him and a metro station in Athens (Agios Dimitrios, which is close to the place of his death) was renamed to carry his name (Metro Station in Greek[citation needed]).