Pavlos Kountouriotis

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Pavlos Kountouriotis
Παύλος Κουντουριώτης
Kountouriotis c. 1915
President of Greece
In office
24 August 1926 – 10 December 1929
Prime Minister
See list
Preceded byTheodoros Pangalos
Succeeded byAlexandros Zaimis
In office
25 March 1924 – 6 April 1926
Prime Minister
See list
Preceded by
Regent of Greece
In office
23 December 1923 – 25 March 1924
MonarchGeorge II
Prime Minister
See list
In office
28 October 1920 – 17 November 1920
MonarchVacant
Prime MinisterEleftherios Venizelos
Succeeded byQueen Mother Olga
Minister of the Navy
In office
24 September 1915 – 9 June 1916
MonarchConstantine I
Prime Minister
  • Alexandros Zaimis
  • Stephanos Skouloudis
Preceded byAthanasios N. Miaoulis
Succeeded byKonstantinos Kallaris
Personal details
Born(1855-04-09)9 April 1855
Venizelist
)
Spouses
Angeliki Petrokokkinou
​
​
(m. 1889; died 1903)​
Helen Koupas
​
(m. 1918)​
Relations
Children3, including
Návarchos
(admiral)
Commands
Battles/wars

Pavlos Kountouriotis (

regent of Greece, and the first president of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times as head of the Greek state
, the most times in the history of the seat.

Early life

Pavlos Kountouriotis was born on the island of Hydra to Theodoros Kountouriotis, Consul and Member of the

Royal Hellenic Navy, presumably in the rank of Ensign.[citation needed
]

Naval service

Kountouriotis and crew on the deck of Georgios Averof, 1912
Battle of Elli
.
Translated it reads: "By the power of God and with the wishes of the King and in the name of Justice, I sail with unstoppable force and with confidence about victory against the enemy of the nation."

First achievements

In 1886, he took part in the naval operations at

Captain in 1909. In June 1911, Kountouriotis was sent to Britain, to take control of the newly-commissioned Georgios Averof, following the "blue cheese mutiny
". As he was highly esteemed, he quickly reimposed discipline and set sail for Greece.

Balkan Wars

On 16 April 1912 he was appointed Chief of the Navy General Staff until 16 September, when he was appointed of the Aegean Fleet, in view of the worsening situation in the Balkans, and the imminent outbreak of the First Balkan War.

Kountouriotis played a crucial role in the Greek government's decision to enter the war. Partly because the Greek fleet had not yet completed its modernization programme, and in view of the disaster of 1897, the Greek leadership remained ambivalent about Greece's prospects. Kountouriotis weighed in decisively in these discussions, proclaiming his confidence that even with the existing fleet, victory could be achieved, thanks to superior personnel. His reply to Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos became famous:[2]

Mr. President, I do not occupy myself with x plus y and angles of divergence. I know to speak of one thing. Ships without capable personnel, are [nothing but] heavy lead that sinks in water. I assure you that with the ships we have, we shall do our job well.

During the

Battle of Limnos), bringing most of the Aegean islands under Greek control. His victories, due in large part to his daring but successful tactics, earned him the status of a national hero. He was promoted to vice admiral for "exceptional war service", the first Greek career officer since Konstantinos Kanaris to reach the rank (usually reserved for members of the Greek royal family
).

Politics

In 1916, he became a minister in the

Greek Parliament on 28 October by a vote of 137 to 3.[3] After the sitting government of Venizelos was defeated in the elections that took place in November 1920, Kountouriotis resigned as Regent on 17 November, to be replaced by Queen Olga
, King Alexander's grandmother. The following month, King Constantine was restored.

President

General Pangalos' dictatorship. He served a second time as a provisional president from August 1926 until December 1929.[4]

Death and honours

Greek destroyer and a Standard-class frigate, Kountouriotis, are named after him.

The cross on Kountouriotis' grave in Hydra

One of the two gold 100-Euro coins issued by Greece in 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the Balkan Wars featured Kountouriotis and Georgios Averof.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Jochalas, Titos (2020). "Lettere di contenuto velenoso inviate da Londra al Primo Ministro greco scritte nel dialetto albanese di Idra (1824)". Shejzat. 3–4: 69. Sembra che la lingua abituale di comunicazione dei Cundurioti anche con il loro cognato fosse l'arvanitica di Idra. Era così frequente l'abitudine dei Cundurioti di parlare arvanitica che persino l'ammiraglio Pavlos Cunduriotis tutte le volte che andava ad Idra voleva comunicare con gli abitanti dell' isola solo in arvanitica, come attesta il testimone e suo segretario Nic. Chalioris: "E' con vero piacere che il bell'ufficiale parla in albanese con i bravi isolani", (ΤΟ ΜΕΛΛΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΥΔΡΑΣ, ag.-sett. 1935, n. 9, pag. 225) e altrove: «L'ammiraglio in tutto questo tempo era molto allegro. Salutava in arvanitica tutti i pescatori che incontravamo per strada», (ibidem, apr. 1960, n. 4, pag. 91).
  2. ^ "Η Πρώτη Νίκη του Ναυάρχου Κουντουριώτη στους Βαλκανικούς Αγώνες" (PDF). Hellenic National Defence General Staff. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  3. ^ The Times (London), Friday 29 October 1920, p. 12
  4. ^ "Countries Go-Gu: Greece". rulers.org. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  5. ^ "Greece - 100 Euro gold, centennial of the Balkan Wars, 2012". Electa Collections. The Eurocoin Store. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
Political offices
New title
 President of Greece
25 March 1924 – 15 March 1926 		Succeeded by
Theodoros Pangalos
Preceded by
Theodoros Pangalos
 President of Greece
24 August 1926 – 9 December 1929 		Succeeded by
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