Ioannis Demestichas

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Ioannis Demestichas
Ιωάννης Δεμέστιχας
Ioannis Demestichas c. 1908-09
Minister of Education
In office
14 – 26 April 1944
MonarchGeorge II
Prime MinisterSofoklis Venizelos
Preceded byEmmanouil Tsouderos
Succeeded bySh. Sgouritsas
Minister of the Interior
In office
14 – 26 April 1944
MonarchGeorge II
Prime MinisterSofoklis Venizelos
Preceded byEmmanouil Tsouderos
Succeeded byA. Lambrinidis
Deputy Minister of the Mercantile Marine
In office
14 – 26 April 1944
MonarchGeorge II
Prime MinisterSofoklis Venizelos
Preceded byS. Theofanidis
Succeeded byGerasimos Vasileiadis
Minister of Naval Affairs
In office
6 – 9 March 1933
PresidentAlexandros Zaimis
Prime MinisterAlexandros Othonaios
Preceded byIosif Koundouros
Succeeded byGeorgios Panas
Minister of Aviation
In office
6 – 9 March 1933
PresidentAlexandros Zaimis
Prime MinisterAlexandros Othonaios
Preceded byIosif Koundouros
Succeeded byAlexandros Mazarakis-Ainian
Personal details
Born30 November 1882
Limnos
Military Governor of Tenedos
Military Governor of Samos
Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff
Chief of the Fleet Command
Director-General of the Salamis Naval Base
Battles/wars

Ioannis Demestichas (

nom de guerre of Kapetan Nikiforos (Καπετάν Νικηφόρος). He held various senior commands in the Greek Navy, including thrice as Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff
, and also served briefly in cabinet positions.

Life

Early career: Macedonian Struggle, the Balkan Wars and aftermath

Ioannis Demestichas was born in

nom de guerre of Kapetan Nikiforos, leading an armed band in the Giannitsa Lake area.[2]

In August 1909 he participated in the successful Goudi coup, and later was among the ringleaders in the abortive coup of the more radical young officers, led by Lieutenant Konstantinos Typaldos-Alfonsatos, in October of the same year.[2] Promoted to Lieutenant on 29 March 1910, he spent the years 1910–12 in training abroad.[2] With the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912, he was given command of a gunboat, with which he participated in the operations in the Ambracian Gulf, but in early November he was detached to the Aegean fleet as commander of a landing detachment, with which he fought in the battles for the capture of the islands of the eastern Aegean. He was wounded during the liberation of Chios, and was later appointed military governor of Tenedos.[2] On 1 January 1913 he was promoted to Lieutenant I Class.[2]

After the Balkan Wars, he served as captain of the torpedo boat Aigli (1914–15), being promoted to Lt. Commander on 20 October 1914. He then became captain of the destroyer Aspis (1915–17), as well as instructor of naval calculus in the Naval Academy (1916–17).[2] On 9 May 1917, he left his post to join the Provisional Government of National Defence under Eleftherios Venizelos. Following Venizelos' return to Athens and his assumption of the government in June, Demestichas was made captain of the destroyers Niki (1917–18) and Nea Genea (1918–19), with which he participated in the anti-U-boat operations in the eastern Mediterranean. On 26 December 1917, he was promoted to commander.[2]

Interwar period

In 1919–20, he took part in the naval operations of the

11 September 1922 Revolution, in which he took active part in Athens, he was recalled to active service as captain of the battleship Kilkis, and then as military commander of Samos island (1922–23).[2] On 20 December 1923 he was promoted to captain. He then assumed command of the Exercise Squadron in 1923–24, and became commandant of the Navy Academy (1924). During the so-called "Navy strike" in June 1924, he voluntarily retired, but this was revoked on 21 August.[2]

In 1926 he was captain of the battleship

abortive coup attempt led by Nikolaos Plastiras. He held the posts of Minister for Naval Affairs and for Aviation (6–9 March).[3] After the failure of the coup, on 11 March he was placed on suspended duty due to his involvement in it, placed on indefinite leave on 12 September, and retired on 5 February 1934 with the rank of rear admiral in retirement.[2] In 1934 he was one of the founding members of the Yacht Club of Greece.[2]

Demestichas took part in Plastiras'

Napoli in Italy. In Greece, he was tried and sentenced in absentia to death and loss of rank, but on 13 June 1936 he was pardoned and restored to his rank.[2]

World War II and aftermath

In April 1943, he fled the

Minister for Mercantile Marine in the short-lived (14–26 April) exile cabinet of Sofoklis Venizelos.[4]

He retired once more on 24 August 1945 as vice admiral in retirement, but was recalled between 30 August 1946 and 1 July 1947 to serve as a member of the commission on the selection of personnel for the reduced peacetime navy.[2] On 21 January 1948 he was awarded the War Cross for his role in World War II.[2]

He died at Marousi on 7 December 1960.[2]

Commemoration

Busts of Demestichas have been erected at

Kotronas.[2] He is also a major character in Penelope Delta
's 1937 historical novel The Secrets of the Swamp (Τα μυστικά του βάλτου), dealing with the Macedonian Struggle in the Giannitsa area.

References

  1. Old Style
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Διατελέσαντες Αρχηγοί ΓΕΝ: Δεμέστιχας, Ιωάννης" (in Greek). Hellenic Navy. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Κυβέρνησις ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΟΘΩΝΑΙΟΥ - Από 6.3.1933 έως 10.3.1933" (in Greek). General Secretariat of the Government. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Κυβέρνησις ΣΟΦΟΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΒΕΝΙΖΕΛΟΥ - Από 14.4.1944 έως 26.4.1944" (in Greek). General Secretariat of the Government. Retrieved 11 April 2015.

External links

Media related to Ioannis Demestichas at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Aviation
6–9 March 1933 		Succeeded by
Minister of Naval Affairs
6–9 March 1933 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of the Interior
14–26 April 1944 		Vacant
Title next held by
A. Lambrinidis
as Acting Minister
Minister of Education
14–26 April 1944 		Vacant
Title next held by
Ch. Sgouritsas
Preceded by
S. Theofanidis
 Deputy Minister of Mercantile Marine
14–26 April 1944 		Vacant
Title next held by
Gerasimos Vasileiadis
as Minister of Mercantile Marine
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the Navy General Staff
7 July – 3 October 1926 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Navy General Staff
1 December 1926 – 17 February 1927 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Rear Admiral Periklis Dimoulis
 Chief of the Navy General Staff
10 December 1932 – 6 March 1933 		Succeeded by
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