Konstantinos Dovas ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Δόβας; 20 December 1898 – 1973) was a Greek general and interim

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 i ...

. Dovas was born in

Konitsa Konitsa ( el, Κόνιτσα; see also names in other languages) is a town of Ioannina in Epirus, Greece. It is located north of the capital Ioannina and near the Albanian border. Northeast of Konitsa lies a group of villages known as the Zagor ...

, in the Janina Vilayet 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) ...

(present-day northwestern Greece). In 1918, Dovas 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 ...

. During the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

between the government and the communist

Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...

, he led the resistance of the Konitsa garrison during the Battle of Konitsa. Subsequently he rose from the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

(1954) to Chief of the

Hellenic National Defense 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 ministr ...

. During his term of office, on 25 March 1955 an agreement between the Army and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

on the establishment of a special force entitled "Sheepskin" was made, which subsequently became the Greek component of

Gladio Operation Gladio is the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU), and subsequently by NATO and the CIA, in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies during ...

, a secret organisation of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, CIA and

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

. After his retirement from the army, he was Chief of the Royal Household of King

Paul of Greece Paul ( el, Παύλος, ''Pávlos''; 14 December 1901 – 6 March 1964) was King of Greece from 1 April 1947 until his death in 1964. He was succeeded by his son, Constantine II. Paul was first cousin to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh an ...

. From 20 September to 4 November 1961, Dovas was prime minister in a transitional government.

External links

Listing in rulers.org

''TIME'', 5 January 1948 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dovas, Konstantinos 1898 births 1973 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Greece Hellenic Army generals Prime Ministers of Greece Greeks from the Ottoman Empire People from Konitsa People from Janina vilayet Chiefs of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Greek Resistance members Greek military personnel of the Greek Civil War 1960s in Greek politics Greek military personnel of World War I Greek military personnel of World War II Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)