Evangelos Florakis ( el, Ευάγγελος Φλωράκης,

Tzoumerka Tzoumerka ( el, Τζουμέρκα) is a former municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality North Tzoumerka, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit ...

14 February 1943 – Paphos 10 July 2002 ) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general. After retiring from the Hellenic Army, from 2000 until his death in a helicopter accident in 2002 he commanded the Cypriot National Guard.

Life

Evangelos Florakis was born in

near

Arta Arta, ARTA, or Artà may refer to: Places Djibouti * Arta, Djibouti, a regional capital city in southeastern Djibouti * Arta Mountains, a mountain range in Djibouti * Arta Region, Djibouti Greece * Arta, Greece, a regional capital city in northwes ...

on 14 February 1943. He entered the

Hellenic Army Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

in 1962 and graduated as an Infantry Second Lieutenant four years later, seventh of his class. Trained as a

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

officer, he served as commanding officer of the 31st Infantry Regiment, and served twice in Cyprus, as an officer with

ELDYK ) , patron= , motto= (The same ancestry and common language and common religion and common traditions) , colors= Greek Lizard , colors_label= Uniform Camouflage , march= , mascot= , equipment= G3 , equipment_label= Service Rifle , battles= Turk ...

and later, as a colonel, as deputy chief of staff of the Cypriot National Guard. In 1994 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier and served as deputy commander of the 15th Infantry Division and subsequently as CO of the 50th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. In 1996 he was promoted to major general and given command of the 16th Mechanized Infantry Division. He subsequently served as director of the Supreme War Academy in Thessaloniki. In 1999, as a lieutenant general, he assumed command of the II Army Corps, which he led until his retirement in May 2000. He was immediately recalled to service as Chief of the Cypriot National Guard (the senior command positions of the CNG are customarily filled by active or retired Greek officers), replacing Lt. General Dimitrios Dimou. Florakis was married to a Cypriot, Athina Savvidou from Paphos, and quickly became a popular and well-liked officer in Cyprus. He was killed in an accident on 10 July 2002 near Paphos, when his

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progra ...

helicopter crashed. Aside from Florakis, the Air Force Commander Brigadier Stylianos Demenagas and three other officers were killed.

Honours

Lt. General Florakis was awarded the Commander's crosses of the Order of Honour and of the Order of the Phoenix, as well as numerous other distinctions and commemorative medals. The main naval base of the CNG, the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base in Mari, was later named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florakis, Evangelos 1943 births 2002 deaths People from Ioannina (regional unit) Cypriot military personnel Hellenic Army lieutenant generals Commanders of the Order of Honour (Greece) Commanders of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Accidental deaths in Cyprus