Georgios Theotokis ( el, Γεώργιος Θεοτόκης, 1844 in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

– 12 January 1916 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 ...

) 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 ...

politician and

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

, serving the post four times. He represented the Modernist Party or ''Neoteristikon Komma'' (NK).

Biography

He was the third child of Corfiote Nikolaos Andreas Theotokis. After graduating from the Ionian high school, he enrolled at the Law School of the

Ionian University The Ionian University (Greek: Iόνιο Πανεπιστήμιο) is a university located in the Ionian Islands, Greece. It is one of the newest institutions of Higher Education in Greece, created in 1984 pursuant to presidential order 83/84 Φ ...

. In 1861 he received his law degree from the Ionian University with a scholarship and continued his studies at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Upon his return to Corfu he worked as a lawyer. In 1879 he took part in the municipal elections and was elected mayor with a percentage of 65%. In 1883 he was re-elected mayor only to leave in 1885 at the invitation of

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis ( el, Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of c ...

, to become a member of the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

for the Trikoupis party. In May 1886 Trikoupis appointed him Minister for Naval Affairs. As a minister Theotokis ordered the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

s '' Spetsai'', '' Hydra'' and ''

Psara Psara ( el, Ψαρά, , ; known in ancient times as /, /) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Together with the small island of Antipsara (Population 4) it forms the municipality of Psara. It is part of the Chios regional unit, which is part of ...

''. He also improved drastically the condition of the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

by promoting better training and establishing many naval academies and schools. Later Trikoupis appointed him Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education. With the aid of professor Papamarkos, Theotokis prepared and submitted to Parliament progressive legislation for the improvement of education in Greece. However the legislation was never passed due to the opposition of Deliyannis. From mid-1903 to 1909 Theotokis became three more times Prime Minister of Greece, the third time being the longest at the prime minister's post. Among his achievements are the organisation and strengthening of the army, including the adoption of modern

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage relative to sandy ...

uniforms. He provided assistance for the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...

and is noted for his calm and deliberate foreign policy in the tense period just prior to the

Balkan wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

. His grandson

Georgios Rallis Georgios Ioannou Rallis ( el, Γεώργιος Ιωάννου Ράλλης; 26 December 1918 – 15 March 2006), anglicised to George Rallis, was a Greek conservative politician and the 2nd Prime Minister of Greece from 1980 to 198 Ancestors i ...

, who also became prime minister, has criticized him for two, in his opinion, important mistakes. Namely because in the days leading to the disastrous

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

he did not oppose sending the

Hellenic army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, that led to the outbreak of the war. The second mistake was Theotokis' refusal to mediate between King Constantine I of Greece and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos during 1915–1916, a disagreement that eventually grew to become the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos regarding the foreig ...

. Georgios Theotokis, however, is considered by many to be a politician distinguished for his high ethics, calm demeanor and controlled temper, qualities not often found among politicians of his era. As a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Corfu, Georgios Theotokis approved construction for the

Municipal Theatre of Corfu The Municipal Theatre of Corfu ( el, Δημοτικό Θέατρο Κέρκυρας) was the main theatre and opera house in Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, ...

in 1885.

Cabinets

First Cabinet, April 14, 1899 – November 25, 1901

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 ...

: Georgios Theotokis *

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Athos Romanos Athos may refer to: Fictional or mythical characters * Athos (character), one of the title characters in the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' (1844) by Alexandre Dumas père * Athos (mythology), one of the Gigantes in Greek mythology * Athos Fadiga ...

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 ...

: Georgios Theotokis * Minister for War: Konstantinos Koumoundouros **replaced on January 11, 1900, by Nikolaos Tsamandos *

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

: Anargiros Simopoulos

Second Cabinet, June 27, 1903 – July 11, 1903

: Georgios Theotokis *

: Nikolaos Levidis * Minister for War:

Alexios Grivas Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...

: Anargiros Simopoulos

Third Cabinet, December 19, 1903 – December 29, 1904

: Georgios Theotokis *

: Giorgios Theotokis * Minister for War: Konstantinos Smolenskis *

: Anargiros Simopoulos **replaced on October 10, 1904, by

Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos ( el, Νικόλαος Καλογερόπουλος; 23 July 1851 – 7 January 1927) was a Greek politician and briefly Prime Minister of Greece. Biography Kalogeropoulos was born in Chalkida, Euboea, and studied law in ...

Fourth Cabinet, December 21, 1905 – July 29, 1909

: Georgios Theotokis *

: Alexandros Skouzas (left office on 21 June 1908 **replaced on July 5, 1908, by Giorgios Baltatzis *

* Minister for War: Georgios Theotokis *

: Anargyros Simopoulos **replaced on January 8, 1908, by Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos **replaced on July 5, 1908, by

Dimitrios Gounaris Dimitrios Gounaris (; 5 January 1867 – 28 November 1922) was a Greek politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 25 February to 10 August 1915 and 26 March 1921 to 3 May 1922. Leader of the People's Party, he was the main ri ...

**replaced on February 28, 1909, by Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos

References

Sources

*Georgios Rallis: "Georgios Theotokis: Politician of the measured response" (In Greek), Ελληνική Ευρωεκδοτική, Αθήνα 1986, 355 p. .

External links

«Georgios Theotokis: Politician of the measured response and of calm manners»
�� Article by Georgios Rallis in the newspaper ''Τα Νέα'', 18 October 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Theotokis, Georgios 1844 births 1916 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Greece 20th-century prime ministers of Greece Mayors of Corfu (city) University of Paris alumni Foreign ministers of Greece Prime Ministers of Greece Ministers of Naval Affairs of Greece MPs of Corfu New Party (Greece) politicians History of Greece (1863–1909) Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Theotokis family Politicians from Corfu