Georgios Athanasiadis–Novas ( el, Γεώργιος Αθανασιάδης-Νόβας) (February 9, 1893 – August 10, 1987) 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 ...

poet, lawyer and politician who served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

for one month in 1965. Born in

Nafpaktos Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latinize ...

, he obtained his law degree from the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

. He was first elected to the

Greek Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...

in 1926 representing his native prefecture of

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

, and was repeatedly elected to office until

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. A lawyer by trade, he served as

Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

in 1945, Minister for Education in 1950 and Minister for Industry in 1951. In 1961, however, he was one of many conservatives who joined the

Center Union The Centre Union ( el, Ἕνωσις Κέντρου ''Énōsis Kéntrou'', abbreviated ΕΚ) was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40 History The Centre Union was a politic ...

(EK), in opposition to the corruption of right-wing governments at the time. In 1964, after EK came into power, he became

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the Greek Parliament. On July 15, 1965 he was appointed Prime Minister of Greece by king Constantine II, after the latter dismissed

Georgios Papandreou Georgios Papandreou ( ''Geórgios Papandréou''; 13 February 1888 – 1 November 1968) was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as prime minister of Greece (1944–1945, 1963, 1964–196 ...

, a move that is known as

Apostasia of 1965 The terms ''Apostasia'' ( el, Αποστασία, "Apostasy") or ''Iouliana'' ( el, Ιουλιανά, "July events") or the Royal Coup ( el, Το Βασιλικό Πραξικόπημα ''To Vasiliko Praxikopima'') are used to describe the politica ...

. He was followed by many EK conservatives and with support from conservative

National Radical Union The National Radical Union ( el, Ἐθνικὴ Ῥιζοσπαστικὴ Ἕνωσις (ΕΡΕ), ''Ethnikī́ Rizospastikī́ Énōsis'' (ERE)) was a Greek political party formed in 1956 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, mostly out of the Greek Rall ...

MPs tried to form a government, but failed to get past a

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in parliament. He was replaced on August 20 of the same year. In July 1974 he was one of the politicians who brokered the end of the

Regime of the Colonels In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

and the appointment of

Constantine Karamanlis Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and twice as the president of ...

as Prime Minister. Athanasiadis-Novas also wrote some poetry and prose under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Georgios Athanas (''Γεώργιος Αθάνας'').National Book Centre, Profile of Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas
Literary critics found very little in the way of value in his works, but he found some popularity among his detractors, who used them to ridicule his less-than-distinguished political career. The stanza: :''Itan ta stithia sou'' :''aspra san galata'' :''kai mou 'leges: :''gargala ta'' ::Your breasts were ::White as milk ::And you urged me ::"Tickle them!" gained him the comical nickname "''Gargalatas''", Tickler. Only after 40 years has it been proven that the fact that he wrote this stanza was an

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

. It all started from an article of Costas Stamatiou at the newspaper ''

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' ( el, Τα Νέα, italic=yes; Translation: ''The News'') is a daily newspaper published in Athens. It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), which also published the newspaper '' To Vima''. The assets of DOL were acquired in 2017 b ...

'', with the intention to ridicule him.

Lefteris Papadopoulos Lefteris (Eleftherios) Papadopoulos ( el, Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος) is a Greek lyricist, writer and journalist. Lefteris Papadopoulos was born in Athens, Greece on 14 November 1935. He is the son of Greek refugees, with a fath ...

cleared up the situation with a
article at the same newspaper
in 2004. He died in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

on August 10, 1987, aged 94.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athanasiadis-Novas, Georgios 1893 births 1987 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Greece 20th-century journalists People from Nafpaktos Freethinkers' Party politicians Liberal Party (Greece) politicians Liberal Democratic Union (Greece) politicians Centre Union politicians Apostasia of 1965 Prime Ministers of Greece Ministers of the Interior of Greece Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament Greek MPs 1926–1928 Greek MPs 1928–1932 Greek MPs 1932–1933 Greek MPs 1933–1935 Greek MPs 1936 Greek MPs 1946–1950 Greek MPs 1950–1951 Greek MPs 1951–1952 Greek MPs 1952–1956 Greek MPs 1956–1958 Greek MPs 1958–1961 Greek MPs 1961–1963 Greek MPs 1963–1964 Greek MPs 1964–1967 Greek journalists Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni

See also

Notes