Ilias Degiannis ( el, Ηλίας Ντεγιάννης; 22 December 1912 – 18 June 1943) was a Greek navy officer

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

leader during the Axis occupation of Greece. Degiannis had participated in the abortive pro- Republican coup attempt of March 1935, and been dismissed from the navy as a result. He was one of a number of pro-

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

or left-wing Greeks contacted and recruited by Section D of British intelligence in early 1941, forming an intelligence cell called "Prometheus" (Προμηθεύς) under the leadership of Colonel

Evripidis Bakirtzis Evripidis Bakirtzis (; 16 January 1895 – 9 March 1947), born in Serres, Ottoman Empire, was a Hellenic Army officer and politician. Dismissed from the army twice due to his participation in pro-republican coup attempts and sentenced to death, la ...

. Due to the German invasion of Greece and the rapid conquest of the country in April–May 1941, the British were not able to organize their clandestine network on a firm basis or provide them with suitable material such as radios. Following the British withdrawal, only the Prometheus group used its transmitter to send information to SOE in Cairo. In early 1942, Bakirtzis was forced to leave Greece because his identity had been revealed to the Germans. Degiannis, along with fellow participants in the 1935 coup Charalambos Koutsogiannopoulos and Dimitris Bardopoulos, was left in charge of the group which was reorganized as " Prometheus II". The group collected intelligence for the SOE and engaged in a successful sabotage campaign against Axis shipping. He was arrested,

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

d and executed by the Germans on 18 June 1943. He was promoted posthumously to

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. In December 1980 the

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 ...

commissioned the La Combattante IIIb-class fast attack craft ''Ypoploiarchos Degiannis'' (P 26) in his honour. His brother

Theodoros Degiannis Theodoros Degiannis ( el, Θεόδωρος Ντεγιάννης, 1926–2006) was a Greek admiral and chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. He also served as the Minister of National Defence in the Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Gri ...

became an admiral and chief of the

Hellenic National Defence General Staff The Hellenic National Defence General Staff ( el, Γενικό Επιτελείο Εθνικής Άμυνας, abbr. ΓΕΕΘΑ) is the senior staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces. It was established in 1950, when the separate armed services minist ...

in 1982–1984, while another brother Ioannis Degiannis became a senior judge, presiding over the Greek Junta Trials.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Degiannis, Ilias 1912 births 1943 deaths People executed by Axis occupation forces Greek military personnel killed in World War II Greek Resistance members Hellenic Navy officers Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Greek torture victims Greek people executed by Nazi Germany Anti-monarchists