Dimitrios Oikonomou ( el, Δημήτριος Οικονόμου; 4 June 1883 – 11 September 1957) was a

Hellenic 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 vari ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. After fighting as a junior officer in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, he was a convinced

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

and was dismissed from service in 1917–20. Reinstated, he held various ship and senior commands during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, including serving as Chief of the

Hellenic Navy General Staff The Hellenic Navy General Staff ( el, Γενικό Επιτελείο Ναυτικού, abbr. ΓΕΝ) is the general staff of the Hellenic Navy, the naval component of the Greek Armed Forces. It is headed by the Chief of the Navy General Staff, cu ...

in 1935–36. In the latter post he was among the leaders of the military coup of 10 October 1935 that overthrew the

Second Hellenic Republic The Second Hellenic Republic is a modern historiographical term used to refer to the Greek state during a period of republican governance between 1924 and 1935. To its contemporaries it was known officially as the Hellenic Republic ( el, Ἑλλ� ...

and restored the

Greek monarchy The monarchy of Greece ( el, Μοναρχία της Ελλάδας, Monarchía tis Elládas) or Greek monarchy ( el, Ελληνική Μοναρχία, Ellinikí Monarchía) was the government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of ...

Career

Dimitrios Oikonomou was born in

Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

on 4 June 1883, the son of Alexandros Oikonomou. He entered the Hellenic Navy Academy on 10 September 1899 and graduated as a Line Ensign on 15 July 1903. As a young officer he took part in the Goudi pronunciamiento in August 1909, as well as in the abortive revolt of Lt. Konstantinos Typaldos-Alfonsatos in October of the same year. Promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 29 March 1910, he fought in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

of 1912–13 on board the battleship ''Psara'', participating in the battles of

Elli In Norse mythology (a subset of Germanic mythology), Elli (Old Norse: , "old age"Orchard (1997:38).) is a personification of old age who, in the ''Prose Edda'' book ''Gylfaginning'', defeats Thor in a wrestling match.Graeme Davis (2013). ''Thor: ...

and

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

and the liberation of various Aegean islands. he was further promoted to Lieutenant on 2 June 1913, a few days before the outbreak of 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 ...

against Bulgaria, in which he fought on land with the 29th Naval Landing Detachment. On 16 July 1913 he was promoted to Lieutenant First Class. In 1914 he finished a course in the Naval Gunnery School. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he sided with 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 ...

in his dispute with Prime Minister

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...

. A Lt. Commander since 3 March 1917, he was dismissed from the service on 21 June 1917, after Venizelos prevailed and took the country into the war on the side of the

Entente Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

. Following the electoral victory of the anti-Venizelist royalist parties, he was recalled to active service on 6 November 1920; his dismissal was revoked and he was quickly promoted to commander on 2 December. After participating briefly in the naval operations of the

Asia Minor Campaign Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Afr ...

on board the destroyer , he assumed the post of commander of the

Palaio Faliro Palaio Faliro ( el, Παλαιό Φάληρο, ; Katharevousa: Palaion Faliron, Παλαιόν Φάληρον, meaning "Old Phalerum") is a coastal district and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2011 c ...

naval airfield. He then commanded the destroyer (1923) and the light cruiser ''Elli'' (1923–25). In June 1924, as captain of the ''Elli'', he participated in the so-called "Navy Strike". Promoted to captain on 12 October 1925, he again assumed command of the ''Elli'' in 1926–27, before commanding the training ship ''Aris'' (1927–28) and the battleships ''Kilkis'' and ''Limnos'' in 1929. In 1929–30 he served as Superior Submarine Commander, a position where he distinguished himself by the drastic overhaul and modernization of crew training. In 1931 he served briefly as Commander of the Destroyer Flotilla, and subsequently, until 1934, as Chief of the Training Squadron. Promoted to rear admiral on 21 February 1934, on 3 March 1935 he was appointed Chief of the

, as well as Director-General in the Ministry of Naval Affairs. In May he was president of the Extraordinary Naval Court-Martial that tried the naval officers who had participated in the failed pro-Venizelist March coup attempt. He nevertheless immediately requested, with success, that the death sentences passed out not be carried out. On 10 October, along with the heads of the Army, Lt. General

Alexandros Papagos Alexandros Papagos ( el, Αλέξανδρος Παπάγος; 9 December 1883 – 4 October 1955) was a Greek army officer who led the Hellenic Army in World War II and the later stages of the subsequent Greek Civil War. The only Greek career of ...

, and the Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Georgios Reppas, he toppled the

, restored the

, and installed

Georgios Kondylis Georgios Kondylis DSO (; 14 August 1878 – 1 February 1936) was a Greek general, politician and prime minister of Greece. He was nicknamed ''Keravnos'', Greek for "thunder" or "thunderbolt". Military career Kondylis was born in Prouss� ...

as Prime Minister and Regent pending the return of the exiled King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

. On 21 February 1936, he was promoted to vice admiral. He remained in the post of Chief of the Navy General Staff until 19 December, when he was transferred to the post of Inspector-General of the Navy. In 1938–39 he held in tandem the position of Chief of Fleet Command. Oikonomou remained Inspector-General at the outbreak of the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

on 28 October 1940. For the duration of the war, until the Greek capitulation following the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

in April 1941, he remained in the post and held in parallel the positions of Chief of the Torpedo Boat Flotilla, Air Defence Chief and Director of the Air–Sea Alarm Service, as well as commander of the Naval Regions 1 and 3. Finally, on 25 April 1941, as the bulk of the Fleet and the government had left for the Middle East, Oikonomou was authorized to represent the Minister for Naval Affairs and command what remained of the navy until the final capitulation two days later. Oikonomou remained in Greece during the

Occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, and served in the Directorate-General of the Navy in the Ministry of National Defence of the collaborationist government in 1941–43. After liberation, on 31 August 1946 he was decorated with the War Cross First Class and the Distinguished Actions Medal for his role in the 1940–41 conflict. He retired on 25 April 1947 and died at

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...

on 11 September 1957.

Other activities

In 1935, Oikonomou was a member of the

Hellenic Olympic Committee The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) ( el, Ελληνική Ολυμπιακή Επιτροπή) is the governing Olympic body of Greece. It is the second oldest National Olympic Committee in the world (after the French Olympic Committee), it o ...

, and from 1940 until 1944 he was chairman of the Yacht Club of Greece. After his retirement, in 1953–57 he was chairman of the board of the Greek Sea Union, and of the

Hellenic Maritime Museum The first attempt to establish the Hellenic Maritime Museum was in the newly established Greek state in 1867. That year the master of the Navy Gerasimos Zochios, founder of the Navy Retirement Fund, suggested that the Fund takes the task of collec ...

. Oikonomou also published a number of historical works, including the archive of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

hero, general

Kostas Botsaris Kostas (Kitsos) Botsaris ( el, Κώστας (Κίτσος) Μπότσαρης, it, Costa Bozzari, c. 1792–1853), also known as Constantine Botzaris, was a Greek general and senator. He was also a captain and a hero of the War of Greek Indepen ...

(1934), a study on the Suliots and the Botsaris family (Το Σούλι, οι Σουλιώτες και η Οικογένεια Μπότσαρη, 1954), as well as studies on the war record of the Navy during World War II (Πεπραγμένα του Β.Ν., 1947), and on

Prince George of Greece and Denmark Prince George of Greece and Denmark ( el, Γεώργιος; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of his ...

and the Greek naval programme (Η Α.Β.Υ. ο Πρίγκηψ Γεώργιος και το Ναυτικόν Πρόγραμμα της Χώρας, 1952).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oikonomou, Dimitrios 1883 births 1957 deaths People from Chalcis Greek writers Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek monarchists Royal Hellenic Navy admirals of World War II Chiefs of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Recipients of the War Cross (Greece)