Anastasios Charalambis ( el, Αναστάσιος Χαραλάμπης, 22 September 1862 – 11 March 1949) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and interim Prime Minister of Greece for one day in 1922.

Life

Anastasios Charalambis was born in

Kalavryta Kalavryta ( el, Καλάβρυτα) is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and ...

on 22 September 1862. After studying in the

Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

, he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of Cavalry on 25 July 1884. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1888 and Captain in 1895, and fought in the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

. He was again promoted to Major in 1908, Lt. Colonel in 1910 and Colonel in 1913. During the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, he served as Chief of Staff of the 1st Infantry Division in Macedonia, then of the

6th Infantry Division 6th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions * 6th Division (Australia) * 6th Division (Austria) *6th (United Kingdom) Division * Finnish 6th Division (Winter War) *Finnish 6th Division (Continuation War) * 6th Division (Reichswehr) * 6th Divisi ...

in the operations in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

, before returning to the 1st Division for the operations against Bulgaria in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

. In 1914 he was placed as Chief of Staff to II Army Corps, and then as Director of the Artillery Bureau of the Ministry of Military Affairs. From 26 April to 19 May and from 22 May to 14 June 1917 he served as Minister of Military Affairs, and then from 26 June as Chief of the Army's Staff Service until November. In early 1918 he was placed in command of II Army Corps, and retired from the Army on 23 July 1918. He was promoted to Major General in 1917 and Lt. General in 1918. Following the defeat against Turkey in Anatolia, the government of Petros Protopapadakis fell, Greece was plunged into a political crisis. A military revolt, led by

Venizelist Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s. Main ideas Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek irredentism: ...

officers, erupted in September 1922, and demanded the resignation of King

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

and of Prime Minister

Nikolaos Triantafyllakos Nikolaos Triantafyllakos ( el, Νικόλαος Τριανταφυλλάκος) (8 November 1855, Tripoli - 16 September 1939) was a Prime Minister of Greece during a tumultuous time in Greek history in August/September 1922. He represented the p ...

. Their demands were met, and the revolutionary committee installed a new government, with

Alexandros Zaimis Alexandros Zaimis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Ζαΐμης; 9 November 1855 – 15 September 1936) was a Greek politician who served as Greece's Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Justice, and High Commissioner of Crete. He serv ...

as Prime Minister and Charalambis as Minister of Military Affairs. As Zaimis was out of the country, Sotirios Krokidas was appointed as interim Prime Minister. Until Krokidas could reach

Athens 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 be sworn in, Charalambis was sworn in as temporary Prime Minister and Minister for Military Affairs on 16 September, serving for one day (and concurrently also as provisional Interior Minister). After Krokidas arrived, he assumed the posts of Prime Minister and Interior Minister, while Charalambis remained Minister for Military Affairs until the cabinet's resignation on 14 November 1922. He was recalled from retirement in 1927 to serve as chairman of the military council for the re-admission of officers purged for political reasons over the previous years. Charalambis died on 11 March 1949.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Charalambis, Anastasios 1862 births 1949 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Greece 20th-century Greek military personnel People from Kalavryta Prime Ministers of Greece Hellenic Army generals Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ministers of Military Affairs of Greece Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff Ministers of the Interior of Greece