Alexandros Diomedes () (3 January 1875 – 11 November 1950) was a governor of the Central Bank of Greece who became

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

upon the death of

Themistoklis Sophoulis Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis (; 24 November 1860 – 24 June 1949) was a prominent centrist and liberal Greek politician from Samos Island, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece, with the Liberal Party, which he led for many y ...

. Diomedes was born in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

to an

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settlers ...

family from

Spetses Spetses ( el, Σπέτσες, grc, Πιτυούσσα "Pityussa", Arvanitika: Πετσε̱) is an upscale affluent island in Attica, Greece. It is included as one of the Saronic Islands. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis ...

on 3 January 1875. His grandfather was former Prime Minister

Diomidis Kiriakos Diomidis Anastasiou Kyriakos () (1811, Spetses – 1869, Pisa) was a Greek author, politician and Prime Minister of Greece. Biography Kiriakos was born in 1811 on the island of Spetses to family of Arvanite origin. He was the younger brother of ...

. He studied law and economics in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and earned a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

from the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

. In 1905, he became a professor at the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

. He was a member of the

Athens Academy The Academy of Athens ( el, Ακαδημία Αθηνών, ''Akadimía Athinón'') is Greece's national academy, and the highest research establishment in the country. It was established in 1926, with its founding principle traces back to the ...

. Diomedes was appointed

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

("nomarch") of the Attica and Boeotia Prefecture in 1909. In 1910, he was elected to the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

under the banner of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. From 1912 to 1915 and again in 1922 he served as

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. Diomedes became Governor of the

National Bank of Greece The National Bank of Greece (NBG; el, Εθνική Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος) is a global banking and financial services company with its headquarters in Athens, Greece. 85% of the company's pretax preprovision profits are derived ...

in 1923 and Governor of the

Bank of Greece The Bank of Greece ( el, Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος , ΤτΕ) is the central bank of Greece. Its headquarters is located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, but it also has several branches across the country. It was founded in 192 ...

in 1928. Diomedes became Prime Minister upon the death of Sophoulis. It was during his brief term in office (28 June 1949 – 6 January 1950) that the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

was concluded. He was forced to resign amid a scandal involving his

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, Hatzipanos. He died later in that same year (11 November 1950). Besides being an economist and politician, Diomedes also authored several literary works, including a two-volume work on

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

studies. Along with his wife Julia, Diomidis left part of his fortune to the Greek state for the purposes of establishing a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

in Athens, opened in 1952 as the "Julia and Alexander N. Diomides Botanic Garden".

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diomidis, Alexandros 1875 births 1950 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Greece Liberal Party (Greece) politicians Politicians from Athens Prime Ministers of Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens faculty Arvanites Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Finance ministers of Greece Greek MPs 1910–1912 Greek MPs 1912–1915 Greek MPs 1915, 1917–1920 Governors of the Bank of Greece Businesspeople from Athens