Greek women's rights pioneer Margaret Papandreou dies

Margaret Papandreou, a US-born trailblazer for women's rights in Greece who was the wife of one prime minister and the mother of another, died on Friday at the age of 102, her family said.

"With deep sorrow we bid farewell to Margarita Papandreou, our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, who passed away this morning," her son George, the former Greek premier, said on Facebook.

He called her a "fighter to the very end" who had "a profound faith in humanity, in justice, in peace and in the equality of women".

Born Margaret Chant in the US state of Illinois in 1923, she met Greek socialist politician Andreas Papandreou when he was an economics professor in the United States and the two married in 1951.

Andreas Papandreou was elected Greek prime minister in 1981, and Margaret Papandreou became instrumental in promoting landmark reforms that abolished dowries, supported the legalisation of abortions and helped establish civil marriage.

She and Andreas Papandreou had four children, including former prime minister George Papandreou, who led Greece 2009-2011, at the outbreak of the country's debt crisis.

Affectionately known as Margarita to most Greeks, Margaret Papandreou gained additional popularity after her husband divorced her in 1989 to marry a flight attendant.

She later wrote a tell-all memoir about her life with the turbulent Greek politician titled "Love and Power".

Another of their sons, socialist Eurodeputy Nikos Papandreou, wrote Friday that his mother "always had something calm and wise to say to me... probably because she had seen it all".

He added that "for us, her children, but also for Andreas, she was the lighthouse in the storm".

Greece's president, Constantine Tassoulas, said that Papandreou "supported and inspired the reform of family law, the breakthrough in social and political rights, and the modernisation of women’s status in Greek society".

The former Greek first lady was also active against cancer, tuberculosis and polio, he said.

According to local media reports, Papandreou died at home in Athens a few days short of her 103rd birthday.