EFFORTS by Greece's ruling socialists to spare the memory of their founder, Andreas Papandreou, from a dispute between his widow and his four children over his legacy were sunk by lawsuits this week.
A will found in a dusty old book in a cellar is sure to turn the feud from a soap opera to a courtroom drama. At stake is the pink villa of Greece's controversial First Widow, Ms Dimitra Liani, an Olympic Airways flight attendant who became Mr Papandreou's wife and chief of staff.
The socialist leader sold his mother's house for a reported $800,000 to build a luxurious house for Ms Liani who was about half his age when they met as she served him drinks on an airliner in 1988.
But a will by Mr Papandreou's mother, recently discovered by his daughter Sofia, leaves the suburban Athens house to the four children, who are suing to have the sale reversed.
The children say they want to turn the house, where Mr Papandreou was arrested before their eyes at the start of a seven year dictatorship in 1967, into an institute devoted to his memory.
The ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), which had tried to settle the headline grabbing dispute quietly, has thrown in the towel.
The children, who had been discreet about Ms Liani while their father was alive, have openly expressed their distaste in recent months - Mr Papandreou's son Nikos described her as a "power hungry vulture."
Mr Papandreou's eldest son, the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr George Papandreou, has not joined the others in the suit, but has defended their right to claim the historic home.