Aristeidis Stergiadis
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Aristeidis Stergiadis ( el, Αριστείδης Στεργιάδης) (1861, in Kandiye (
Herakleion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...
), Girit Eyalet,
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
– 22 June 1949, in
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) was the Greek high commissioner, or governor-general, of
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
during the Greek occupation of the city from 1919 to 1922. Stergiadis was appointed the High Commissioner of Smyrna in February, and arrived in the city four days after the 15 May 1919 landing. He immediately went to work in setting up an administration, easing ethnic violence, and making plans for permanent annexation of Smyrna. He punished Greek soldiers responsible for the violence on 15–16 May with court-martial, and created a commission to decide on payment for victims (made up of representatives from Great Britain, France, Italy and other allies). When the French ceded
Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
to the Ottomans in 1921 under the terms of the
Treaty of Ankara (1921) The Ankara Agreement (1921) (or the Accord of Ankara; Franklin-Bouillon Agreement; Franco-Turkish Agreement of Ankara, Turkish: ''Ankara Anlaşması'' French: Traité d'Ankara) was signed on 20 October 1921"Ankara, Treaty of" in ''The New Encycl ...
, the French withdrew their protection from the Greek population. It is estimated that 6,500
Rûm Rūm ( ar, روم , collective; singulative: Rūmī ; plural: Arwām ; fa, روم Rum or Rumiyān, singular Rumi; tr, Rûm or , singular ), also romanized as ''Roum'', is a derivative of the Aramaic (''rhπmÈ'') and Parthian (''frwm'') te ...
left Cilicia as a result. Some of the refugees were transported to Cyprus, but the British would only accept refugees holding British nationality or those who had relatives on the island. The others were sent to
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, only to find that Stergiadis would not permit the landing of refugees. Stergiadis stood strictly opposed to discrimination against the
Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...
population in
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, and opposed church leaders and the local
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 ...
population on a number of occasions. Historians disagree about whether this was a genuine stance against discrimination or whether it was an attempt to present a positive vision of the occupation to the Entente. This opposition to discrimination against the Turkish population often pitted Stergiadis against the local Greek population, the church and the army. He reportedly would carry a stick through the town with which he would beat Greeks that were being abusive of Turkish citizens. Troops would disobey his orders to not abuse the Turkish population, often putting him in conflict with the military. On 14 July 1919, the acting foreign secretary sent a long critical telegraph to Venizelos suggesting that Stergiadis be removed, writing that "His sick neuroticism has reached a climax." Venizelos stuck with support of Stergiadis despite this opposition, while the latter oversaw a number of projects planning for a permanent Greek administration of Smyrna. At one point, Stergiadis interrupted and ended a sermon by the bishop Chrysostomos that he believed to be incendiary.
George Horton George Horton (October 11, 1859 – June 5, 1942) was a member of the United States diplomatic corps who held several consular offices in Greece and the Ottoman Empire between 1893 and 1924. During two periods he was the U.S. Consul or Consul Ge ...
writes: :''On one occasion I was present at an important service in the Orthodox Cathedral, to which the representative of the various powers, as well as the principal Greek authorities had been invited. The high-commissioner had given the order that the service should be strictly religious and non-political. Unfortunately, Archbishop Chrysostom (he who was later murdered by the Turks) began to introduce some politics into his sermon, a thing which he was extremely prone to do. Sterghiades, who was standing near him, interrupted, saying: "But I told you I didn’t want any of this." The archbishop flushed, choked, and breaking off his discourse abruptly, ended with, "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen," and stepped off the rostrum.'' Stergiadis abandoned Smyrna on 25 September 1922 on a British ship, and was transported to Britain. He died on 22 June 1949. His
Herakleion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...
residence houses the Public Archives and Library of
Nicolas Kitsikis Nicolas Kitsikis ( el, Νίκος Κιτσίκης; Nafplio, August 14, 1887 – July 26, 1978, Athens), was a top civil engineer of 20th century Greece, and father of Beata Maria Kitsikis Panagopoulos, Elsa Schmid-Kitsikis and Dimitri Kitsikis. He ...
(1887–1978), father of
Dimitri Kitsikis Dimitri Kitsikis ( el, Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης; 2 June 1935 – 28 August 2021) was a Greek Turkologist, Sinologist and Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He also published poetry in French and Greek. Life Dimitri K ...
. Stergiadis was the stepfather of
Beata Kitsikis Beata Kitsikis ( el, Μπεάτα Κιτσίκη; July 14, 1907, Heraklion, Cretan State - February 7, 1986, Athens), was a Greek feminist and a Communist fighter in the Greek Civil War at the end of the Second World War. She was born Merope Petyc ...
née Petychakis, mother of Dimitri Kitsikis.


References


Bibliography

* * Dimitri Kitsikis - « Αριστείδης Στεργιάδης », στο Το κτίριο Γερωνυμάκη-Στεργιάδη στη συνοικία Σουλτὰν Ιμπραΐμ, Ηράκλειο, Κρήτη, ΤΕΕ/ΤΑΚ, 2008 (εικονογραφημένο). * Dimitri Kitsikis - «80 χρόνια από την Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή: Αριστείδης Στεργιάδης», Αθήνα, Τρίτο Μάτι, Καλοκαίρι 2002. * Dimitri Kitsikis - « Stergiades: l’homme d’une mission impossible, 1919-1922 », in Aux vents des puissances (Jean-Marc Delaunay, éd), Paris, Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stergiadis, Aristidis 1861 births 1949 deaths Politicians from Heraklion People from Ottoman Crete Kitsikis family Occupation of Smyrna Governors-General of Epirus