He was born in Zakynthos in 1837, where he attended the circular lessons. He was awarded a doctorate from the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University and completed his studies in Paris. On his return from there he joined the judiciary and rose to the rank of Areopagite.

Being an eminent jurist, he entered politics in 1890 and was elected in 1893 as a member of the Parliament of Zakynthos . In the government of Charilaos Trikoupis he served as Minister of Justice (1893 – 1895) and Foreign Affairs (12/01/1895-31/05/1895), while in the government of Theotokis he served as Minister of Justice (1908 – 1909). He temporarily retired from politics in 1897 after the Greek-Turkish War, when he went to Istanbul in 1898 to negotiate the Peace Treaty and in 1899-1900 to negotiate the new trade agreements with Turkey. He deservedly represented Greece in the International Commission that regulated the compensation payable to foreign nationals in Egypt for the damages suffered during the riots there.

Another noteworthy patriotic contribution is the drafting, on the initiative of the ever-deceased brother Stefanos Skouloudis, of a valuable memorandum on ‘the rights to the privileges of the ancient treaties with comments on the conclusion of a treaty on the issue of a treaty of extradition or the Turkish state’. This memorandum, which was published in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ White Paper, was drafted by Br. Dionysios Stefanou as chairman and St. I. Voutyra, Eug. Γ. Zalokosta, John D. Naum as members. This memorandum, which was taken into account by those who dealt with the objections raised by Egypt to the provisions of the Law of Appointments Convention, not only overruled similar objections by Turkey but also rejected the corresponding claims made by Turkey. After 1906, the Ad. After 1906, Dionysios Stefanou served for a long time as adviser and head of the political house of King George I.

He entered Freemasonry in St. “Astir of the East“, in the “Lodge of Friends” in Zakynthos, and was adopted on 10 December 1896 by St. “Pythagoras”. He was distinguished and became a member of the Great Eastern Society. He was elected to the 33rd. He was transferred to the Eternal East in 1911.