Dimitrios "Mitsos" Partsalidis ( el, Δημήτρης "Μήτσος" Παρτσαλίδης) (1905–1980) was a Greek
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
politician.
Biography
Partsalidis was a
Pontic Greek
Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...
born in
Trabzon
Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...
in the
Trebizond Vilayet of the
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) ...
. During
population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...
Partsalidis was expelled to Greece as were all members of the
Greek Orthodox Church
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
.
Partsaldis soon joined the
Communist Party of Greece
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
and became involved in politics. In 1934, with the backing of the
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
cultivators, he was elected mayor of
Kavala
Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit.
It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...
, being the first member of the Communist Party to be elected mayor of any Greek city. There followed a wave of electoral wins in Communist strongholds and those elected were nicknamed the ''Red Mayors''.
During 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 ...
, on April 3, 1949, Partsalidis became head of the
Provisional Democratic Government
The Provisional Democratic Government (Greek language, Greek: Προσωρινή Δημοκρατική Κυβέρνηση, ''Prosoriní Dimokratikí Kyvérnisi'') was the name of the administration declared by the Communist Party of Greece on 24 D ...
formed by the Communists in areas under their effective control, succeeding
Nikolaos Zachariadis. He was the final head of the Provisional Government, and remained in office until October 1950 (in exile after August 28, 1949). At the
Battle of Grammos-Vitsi the communist
Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) was defeated and he was forced into exile to
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
In October 1971, Partsalidis was arrested by the
Greek military junta of 1967–1974
The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...
along with Charalambos Drakopoulos
( el), the General Secretary of the
KKE Interior
The Communist Party of Greece, Interior (), usually abbreviated as KKE Interior (Greek: ''ΚΚΕ Εσωτερικού''), was a Eurocommunist party existing between 1968 and 1987 in Greece.
The party was formed after the Communist Party of Greece ...
party. Partsalidis died in Athens on June 22, 1980. He published his memoirs in 1978.
Attribution
*''This article contains text from the articl
Dimitrios Partsalidisat Phantis, a GFDL wiki.''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partsalidis, Dimitrios
1905 births
1980 deaths
20th-century Greek politicians
People from Trabzon
People from Trebizond vilayet
Pontic Greeks
Communist Party of Greece politicians
All People Front politicians
Greek MPs 1936
Greek memoirists
National Liberation Front (Greece) members
History of Kavala
Exiles of the Greek Civil War in the Soviet Union
20th-century memoirists
Prisoners and detainees of Greece
Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece