Athanasios Miaoulis ( el, Αθανάσιος Μιαούλης, 1815 – 7 June 1867) 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 ...

military officer and

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� ...

. Born in Hydra in 1815 the son of the famous Greek admiral

Andreas Miaoulis Andreas Vokos, better known by his nickname Miaoulis ( el, Ανδρέας Βώκος Μιαούλης; 1765 – 24 June 1835), was a Greek revolutionary, admiral, and politician who commanded Greek naval forces during the Greek War of Indepe ...

, from whom he learned his navigation skills.

Biography

He was the son of the

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 ...

admiral

. He was born in Hydra. In 1829 he was given a scholarship at the Bavarian War College in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

by Ludwig of Bavaria. After his graduation he served in the Royal Navy, until his transfer to the

Greek Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vario ...

three years later. Because of his fluency in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, he was appointed adjutant to king

Otto of Greece Otto (, ; 1 June 181526 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludw ...

. He was later elected as Hydra MP (September 25, 1855) and was appointed Minister for Naval Affairs in the government of

Dimitrios Voulgaris Dimitrios Voulgaris ( el, Δημήτριος Βούλγαρης; 20 December 1802 – 10 January 1877) was a Greek revolutionary fighter during the Greek War of Independence of 1821 who became a politician after independence. He was nickname ...

. Following the resignation of Dimitrios Voulgaris, he was asked by king Otto to replace him. On November 13, he formed a government which remained in power until May 1862 with various cabinet reshuffles. Public opinion in Greece considered Miaoulis' government, who also maintained his position as Minister for Naval Affairs, to be pro-Austrian and an obedient instrument of the king, which caused the opposition to develop a hostile mood. He resigned in May 1859, after the incident of the '' Skiadika'', but the inability of Otto's chosen,

Konstantinos Kanaris Konstantinos Kanaris ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Κανάρης, ; c. 17901877), also anglicised as Constantine Kanaris or Canaris, was a Greek admiral, Prime Minister, and a hero of the Greek War of Independence.Woodhouse, p. 129. Bio ...

, to form a government, led Miaoulis to return to power. In the elections of that year, Miaoulis was re-elected as prime minister, but the government faced serious consistency issues leading to frequent cabinet reshuffles. In 1860, Miaoulis resubmitted his resignation, which was not accepted by Otto, who dissolved the parliament in November of the same year. Kalergis' refusal to form a government, led to new elections which lasted from December 1860 until March 1861. Miaoulis won again, although there were many reports of vote rigging and electoral terrorism which resulted in several strong opposition candidates to be left out of parliament. Next was the attempt on Queen Amalia’s life, followed by the revolt of

Nafplio Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the ...

. Athanasios Miaoulis resigned after the repression of the movement (April 25, 1862) giving his chair to

Gennaios Kolokotronis Ioannis Kolokotronis ( el, Ιωάννης Κολοκοτρώνης; 1805–1868), or Gennaios Kolokotronis ( el, Γενναίος Κολοκοτρώνης) as he was nicknamed, was a Greek warrior of the Greek War of Independence, General and Prime ...

. After the expulsion of King Otto and Queen Amalia, Athanasios Miaoulis followed them abroad. He returned during the coronation of King George I (1863), but he didn't get involved in politics''Νεώτερον Εγκυκλοπαιδικόν Λεξικόν Ηλίου'', vol. 13, p. 546. due to lack of public support. During his spell as prime minister, he continued the work of his predecessor on carrying out different land reclamation projects that would ensure the creation of more arable land, while he saw to the completion of the excavation and bridging of

Euripus Strait The Euripus Strait ( el, Εύριπος ) is a narrow channel of water separating the Greek island of Euboea in the Aegean Sea from Boeotia in mainland Greece. The strait's principal port is Chalcis on Euboea, located at the strait's narrowest poi ...

. Athanasios Miaoulis died in 1867 in Paris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miaoulis, Athanasios 1815 births 1867 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Greece Athanasios Prime Ministers of Greece People from Hydra (island) Hellenic Navy officers Ministers of Naval Affairs of Greece