Panagiotis Demestichas ( el, Παναγιώτης Δεμέστιχας, 6 July 1885 (O.S.) – 14 November 1960) was an officer of the

Greek 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 ...

who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, leading an

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

. He also briefly served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the first collaborationist government under general

Georgios Tsolakoglou Georgios Tsolakoglou ( el, Γεώργιος Τσολάκογλου; April 1886 – 22 May 1948) was an officer of the Hellenic Army who became the first Prime Minister of the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis occupation in 1941� ...

during the Axis occupation of Greece.

Life

Panagiotis Demestichas was born on 6 July 1885 (O.S.), in the village of Kotrona near

Gytheio Gytheio ( el, Γύθειο, ) or Gythio, also the ancient Gythium or Gytheion ( grc, Γύθειον), is a town on the eastern shore of the Mani Peninsula, and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government ...

, to Petros Demestichas and his wife Venetia. After completing high school at Gytheio in 1904, he entered the faculty of Law of 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 ...

, but left it in 1905 to join the

as a volunteer, with the rank of Corporal. He later entered the NCO School, from which he graduated on 7 July 1912 (O.S.) as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant. He participated in 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 ...

of 1912–13, rising to company commander by the end of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

, a position he held throughout the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

as well. After Greece's entry in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he fought in the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

as a staff officer of 13th Infantry Division, being promoted to Major in 1918. In 1919 he participated with the 13th Division in the

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Leg ...

, and then went on to fight in the

Asia Minor Campaign Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Afr ...

, where he was transferred to the 5th Infantry Division. In 1922, after the Greek retreat from Asia Minor, he became a staff officer in the General Headquarters. He was promoted to Colonel in 1925, received his degree in law in 1928, and became a Major General in 1934. In 1934–39 he served as Deputy Chief of the

Hellenic Army General Staff The Hellenic Army General Staff ( el, Γενικό Επιτελείο Στρατού, abbrev. ΓΕΣ) is the general staff of the Hellenic Army, the terrestrial component of the Greek Armed Forces. It was established in 1904. Since 1950, the HAGS ...

and CO of the 2nd, 4th and

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

Infantry Divisions, as well as a stint as Head of the King's Military Household. In August 1940 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and left the 9th Division to take command of I Army Corps. Following the outbreak of the

on 28 October, he led the Corps in battle until 11 December, when he was transferred to command V Army Corps until 6 March 1941, when he returned to I Corps. With the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

a month later and the capitulation of the Greek Army, he became a member of the first collaborationist government under Lt. General

, serving as

until 20 September 1941. Following the liberation of the country in 1944, he was tried by a court-martial, and dismissed from the Army in 1946. He died on 14 November 1960. He was married and had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demestichas, Panagiotis Greek collaborators with Nazi Germany Greek fascists 1885 births 1960 deaths Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of World War I Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek people of World War II Hellenic Army generals of World War II Ministers of the Interior of Greece People from East Mani 20th-century Greek politicians