Georgios Themelis ( el, Γεώργιος Θεμελής, 1897-1969) was a Greek politician and officer of the

Hellenic Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 8 November , equipment = , equipment_label ...

, who served as a Member of 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 ...

(1956–67) and as Deputy Defense Minister (1958–61). He was a controversial figure, due to his

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Life

Son of Angelos Themelis, Georgios Themelis was born in 1897 in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

then part 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) ...

. He graduated from the

Hellenic Military 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 1918 and was originally an Army officer (serving in Army Aviation) until the

Greek Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 8 November , equipment = , equipment_label ...

became an independent branch of the Greek Armed Forces, whereupon he was transferred to the Air Force.Ελληνικόν WHO'S WHO 1965, p. 183 During

, and after Greece was

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1941, Themelis was appointed Prefect of

Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...

by the Greek collaborationist government. After the end of the war, Themelis tried to justify his actions by claiming that he took that position in order to protect Greek national interests. In the postwar years, Themelis was involved in politics, and served as a Member of the Greek Parliament from 1956 until 1967, with the 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 ...

. In 1958-61, he was also Deputy Defense Minister. He died in September 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Themelis, Georgios 1897 births 1969 deaths Military personnel from Thessaloniki People from Salonica vilayet Greek Macedonians National Radical Union politicians Greek MPs 1956–1958 Greek MPs 1958–1961 Greek MPs 1961–1963 Greek MPs 1963–1964 Greek MPs 1964–1967 MPs of Thessaloniki Hellenic Air Force officers Greek collaborators with Nazi Germany