Pavlos Kountouriotis | A Hero of Greek Independence on the Averof Flagship

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George - The Shiny Greece Team (feat. ai)

Pavlos Kountouriotis [1855 – 1935] was a Greek admiral during the Balkan Wars and the first and third President of the Second Hellenic Republic.

Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis | Photo by: in public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Pavlos Kountouriotis was born in the island of Hydra by an Arvanite Hydriot family. His father, Theodoros, was a member of the Greek parliament, his mother, Loukia Negreponte, was from an aristocratic family of Chios, his grandfather (father’s side), Georgios, had participated in the Greek War of Independence and had served as Prime Minister of Greece under King Othon, and his great-grandfather (mother’s side), Constantine Hangerli, was the Prince of Wallachia (the historical region of Romania situated south of Southern Carpathians and north of Lower Danube.

Kountouriotis’ main achievements are: 1) The command of the ship ‘Alfios’ with the achievement of two troop landings on Crete during the 1897 Greek-Ottoman war. 2) The first command of the Georgios Averof ship in 1911. 3) The leadership of the Hellenic Navy General Staff in 1912.

Pavlos Kountouriotis with Crew on the Deck of Averoff | Photo by: in the public domain (according to Wikimedia Commons)

4) The victories (especially the Battle of Elli and the Battle of Limnos) against the Ottomans during the Balkan Wars with the Georgios Averof flagship (1912-1913), which led to the setting of most of the Aegean islands under Greek control (firstly Lemnos, Thassos, Imbros, Tenedos, Agios Efstratios, Psara, Samothraki, Chios. 5) The leadership of the Ministry of Naval Affairs in the governments of Alexandros Zaimis and Stefanos Skouloudis. 6) The leadership of the Ministry of Naval Affairs in the National Defence government of Eleftherios Venizelos in 1916.

Kountouriotis with Eleftherios Venizelos Photo by: Français: Opérateur K (code armée)., Installation du gouvernement provisoire de Venizélos à Salonique (octobre 1916) - Salonique - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APOR069969, CC BY-SA 4.0

7) The regency of Greece after the death of King Alexander in 1920, and then again during the period 1923-1924. 8) The Presidency of the Hellenic Republic from 1924 to 1926, until his argue with the dictatorship of the General Theodoros Pangalos. 9) The leadership of the country, as first president of the 2nd Hellenic Republic, after the deposal of King George II, during the period 1925 – 1929. 10) His victories turned him into a national hero, and he was lucky to avoid death from the death attach against him on 1927.

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