Periklis Pierrakos-Mavromichalis ( el, Περικλής Πιερράκος Μαυρομιχάλης; 1863–1938), also known as Mavromichalis-Pierrakos, 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 ...

military officer and politician.

Biography

He was the son of general

Antonios Mavromichalis Antonios Mavromichalis ( el, Αντώνης Μαυρομιχάλης; 1792–1873) was a Greek revolutionary, military officer and politician. Biography He was born in Mani to Pierros Mavromichalis, of the notable Mavromichalis clan. He fought ...

, of the famed

Maniot The Maniots or Maniates ( el, Μανιάτες) are the inhabitants of Mani Peninsula, located in western Laconia and eastern Messenia, in the southern Peloponnese, Greece. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as ''Maina''. ...

Pierrakos (

Mavromichalis The Mavromichalis family ( el, Μαυρομιχάλης, , ) is a prominent clan from Mani Peninsula, which played a major role in modern Greek history. Origin According to the Maniot tradition, confirmed by the May 31, 1870 epitaph of Anastasio ...

) clan. He became an officer in 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 ...

, fighting in the

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 ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

(as Lt Colonel) and later 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 ...

, reaching the rank of Lt General. After retirement, he entered politics, serving as

Interior Minister 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 1922–1923 and

Minister for Military Affairs This is a list of Greek war and defence ministers. Ministers of Military Affairs, 1899–1946 Ministers for Military Affairs, Naval Affairs & Aviation, 1946 Ministers of Military Affairs, 1946–1950 Ministers for Military Affairs, Naval ...

in 1924. He was subsequently elected into the

Greek Senate The Greek Senate ( el, Γερουσία, ''Gerousia'') was the upper chamber of the parliament in Greece, extant several times in the country's history. Local senates during the War of Independence During the early stages of the Greek War of I ...

in 1929. When asked why he had the surname Pierrakos and used Mavromichalis as a nickname, he replied; because he wanted to keep the heritage of his forefathers who fought and die in order for him to live, and the most famous of his forefathers was

Petros Mavromichalis Petros Mavromichalis (; 1765–1848), also known as Petrobey ( ), was a Greek general, politician and the leader of the Maniot people during the first half of the 19th century. His family had a long history of revolts against the Ottoman Empi ...

(whose real name was Petros Pierrakos). Periklis Pierrakos-Mavromichalis also competed at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

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 ...

. Pierrakos-Mavromichalis won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the amateur

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...

event. In the preliminary round, he went 2-1 in his group. He lost to Henri Callot, the eventual

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

list, but defeated

Henri Delaborde Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

and

Ioannis Poulos Ioannis Poulos was a Greek fencer. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Poulos competed in the amateur foil event. He placed fourth of four in his preliminary group after losing all of his bouts, to Henri Callot, Henri Delabor ...

to finish second in the group. There was no match between him and Athanasios Vouros, who had placed second in the other group; Pierrakos-Mavromichalis was awarded third place because his record of 2-1 in matches was better than Vouros's 1-1.

References

External links

* 1863 births 1938 deaths Fencers at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen Greek male fencers Periklis Olympic fencers of Greece Olympic bronze medalists for Greece People from Laconia Hellenic Army generals Greek people of the Balkan Wars Ministers of Military Affairs of Greece Olympic medalists in fencing Ministers of the Interior of Greece Members of the Greek Senate 1929–1932 Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics {{Greece-mil-bio-stub