Pavlos Kountouriotis

His Excellency Pavlos Kountouriotis
Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis
President of the Second Hellenic Republic
In office 25 March 1924 – 15 March 1926
Preceded by	(Monarchy Abolished)
Succeeded by	Theodoros Pangalos
In office 24 August 1926 – 9 December 1929
Preceded by	Theodoros Pangalos
Succeeded by	Alexandros Zaimis
Personal details
Born	9 April 1855[1] Hydra Island, Kingdom of Greece
Died	22 August 1935 (aged 80) Athens, Greece
Occupation	Naval officer
Religion	Greek Orthodox
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch	Hellenic Navy
Years of service	1875–1917
Rank	Návarchos (Admiral)
Battles/wars	Greco-Turkish War Balkan Wars

Pavlos Kountouriotis (Greek: Παύλος Κουντουριώτης, 9 April 1855 – 22 August 1935) was a Greek rear admiral during the Balkan Wars, regent, and the first and third President of the Second Hellenic Republic.

Early life

Pávlos Kountouriotis was born on the island of Hydra to Theodoros Kountouriotis, Consul and Member of the Greek Parliament and Loukia Negreponte. From his father's side daughter of he descented from the Kountouriotis, a Hydriot family of Arvanite origin^[2] originally from the village of Kountoura, in the Megarid and was grandson of Geórgios a shipowner who took part as many members of the family in the Greek War of Independence and who served as Prime Minister of Greece under King Otto. From his mother's side he was descended from the Negreponte family, a prominent family from Chios and was great-grandson of Constantine Hangerli, Prince of Wallachia. He was the second of nine children, including Ioannis Kountouriotis. Little is known of Pávlos' childhood. In 1875, following his family's long-standing naval tradition, he joined the Royal Hellenic Navy, presumably in the rank of Ensign. .

Naval Service

Cruiser Averof

The signal sent by Admiral Kountouriotis from the cruiser Averof to the fleet, at the start of the Battle of Elli.

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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 Preveza as a Lieutenant. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, serving as Lt. Commander he commanded the ship Alfeios. His ship took part in at least two landings of Greek troops on the island of Crete. In 1901, commanding the training ship Miaoulis, he was sent to Boston. This was reported as the first transatlantic trip of a Greek war vessel. Kountouriotis served as an aide-de-camp to King Geórgios I from 1908 until 1911, receiving the rank of Captain in 1909. In June 1911, Kountouriotis was sent to Britain, to take control of the newly commissioned Averof, following the "blue cheese mutiny". As he was highly esteemed, he quickly reimposed discipline and set sail for Greece.

Balkan wars

He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1912, on the outbreak of the First Balkan War. During the Balkan Wars, with his flagship, the Georgios Averof, he led the Greek Navy to major victories against the Turkish fleet in December 1912 (Battle of Elli) and in January 1913 (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 Constantine Kanaris to reach the rank (usually reserved for members of the Greek royal family).

Politics

In 1916, he became a minister in the Stephanos Skouloudis government, but, in disagreement with the pro-German feelings of King Konstantínos I of the Hellenes, he followed Eleftherios Venizelos to Thessaloniki where he was assigned the ministry of Naval Affairs in Venizelos' National Defence government. Konstantínos was deposed, and replaced on the throne by his second-eldest son, The Prince Aléxandros. Kountouriotis subsequently retired from the navy with the honorary rank of full Admiral. On the death of the young King Aléxandros of the Hellenes in 1920, he was elected Regent of Greece by 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 Aléxandros's grandmother. The following month, King Konstantínos was restored.

President

In March 1924, after King Geórgios II of the Hellenes was deposed, he was elected as the first President of the Second Hellenic Republic, but resigned the post in March, 1926, in opposition to General Pangalos' dictatorship. He was reelected President in May 1929, but due to serious health complications he resigned in December of the same year.

Death and honors

Admiral Pávlos Kountouriotis died in 1935. Α World War II Greek destroyer and a Standard-class frigate, the F 462 Kountouriotis, are named after him.

One of the two gold 100-Euro coins issued by Greece in 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the Balkan Wars featured Kountouriotis and the Averof.^[4]

See also

• History of the Hellenic Navy

References

1. Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.
2. Trudgill, Peter: Greece and Europea Turkey. In: Stephen Barbour & Cathie Carmichael (eds.), Language and Nationalism in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. p.254.
3. The Times (London), Friday 29 October 1920, p. 12
4. "Greece - 100 Euro gold, centennial of the Balkan Wars, 2012". Electa Collections. The Eurocoin Store. Retrieved 12 May 2013.