F:. Hesiod

(Corfu 1880 – 1961)

He was the son of the Corfiot politician and Prime Minister Georgios Theotokis. He studied in France and Vienna. He was a landowner and agronomist before entering politics. In 1913 he became Court Lord of the Royal Sofia. In 1917 he followed her into exile. He returned in 1920 and since then he has been involved in politics. He was elected five times as a member of parliament from 1926 to 1936 with the People’s Party of P. Tsaldaris. He became Minister of Agriculture and Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs under the government of G. Condyli. He was in favour of the restoration of the reign of George II. He was distanced from I. Metaxas who had declared the dictatorship of August 4, 1936. Theotokis, while in Berlin, protested strongly to the King for covering up Metaxas’ dictatorship and as a result, when he returned he was confined to his estates in Corfu! However, the republican Theotokis co-signed a secret protocol to restore democracy and prevent the King from returning after the occupation. In 1945 he was re-elected with the People’s Party of P. Tsaldaris and in 1946 he took over the Ministry of Interior. He was then elected Speaker of the Parliament until 1949. After the end of the civil war (1950) he formed a caretaker government to hold elections and handed over power, retiring from politics.