F:. Phoenix Athens

(Evritania 1886 – Athens 1962)

He began his career in the Army as a volunteer in 1904 and entered the NCO School in 1911. He served in the artillery as a non-commissioned officer and fought in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, in Epirus and on the Macedonian front during the First Great War in 1918. He was promoted to Major in 1920 and participated in the Asia Minor campaign in 1921-22. He was wounded in the battle of Afion Karahisar. In 1924- 25 he attended the War School, where he received a degree of staff officer. In 1937 he was deservedly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, due to his outstanding qualifications. The following year he was appointed commander of the VIII Division in Epirus. He methodically organized the defense line of Epirus, constructing fortifications, anticipating a possible invasion from the North. With the outbreak of the Greek-Italian war, he neutralized the Italians by covering Ioannina, on the line Elaia – Kalpaki. The resistance at Kalpaki contributed greatly to the victory of Greece. After the German occupation he participated in the occupation government of G. Tsolakoglou, and was appointed Minister of Labour 1941 and temporarily Minister of Agriculture. In September 1941 he resigned. At the end of the war in 1945, he was sentenced to 5.5 years’ imprisonment as a bribe-taker for facilitating the Germans and was dismissed from the army as a lieutenant-general. In 1949 by decree King Paul pardoned the remainder of his sentence, he was reinstated and his rank of lieutenant general and decorations were restored. He was awarded many medals for bravery. He wrote the historical book ‘Epiros προμαχoύσα’.