Sofoklis Dousmanis ( el, Σοφοκλής Δούσμανης, 25 December 1868 – 6 January 1952) 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 ...

naval officer. Distinguished 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 ...

, he became twice the chief of the

Greek Navy General Staff The Hellenic Navy General Staff ( el, Γενικό Επιτελείο Ναυτικού, abbr. ΓΕΝ) is the general staff of the Hellenic Navy, the naval component of the Greek Armed Forces. It is headed by the Chief of the Navy General Staff, cu ...

, and occupied the post of Minister for Naval Affairs in 1935.

Life

Sofoklis Dousmanis was born 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 ...

on 25 December 1868, a descendant of a branch of the

Dushmani family The Dushmani or Dusmani were an Albanian family that ruled parts of Pilot, a historical province within the territory of the eponymous Dushmani tribe from the Dukagjin highlands in northern Albania, during 15th century rule under the Republic of ...

that had emigrated to Corfu in the 15th century; he was the grandson of

Antonio Dusmani Antonio Lefcochilo Dusmani ( el, Αντώνιος Λευκόχειλος Δούσμανης, Antonios Lefkocheilos Dousmanis; c. 1800–1890) was a Count of Corfu and politician of the United States of the Ionian Islands. Life A descendant of th ...

and brother of

Viktor Dousmanis Viktor Dousmanis ( el, Βίκτωρ Δούσμανης, 1861–1949) was a Hellenic Army officer, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He distinguished himself as a staff officer during the Balkan Wars and became a leading monarchist during ...

. He entered the

Hellenic Naval Academy The Hellenic Naval Cadets Academy ( el, Σχολή Ναυτικών Δοκίμων, abbr. ΣΝΔ, lit. "School of Naval Cadets") is a military university and has the responsibility to educate and suitably train competent Naval Officers for the He ...

on 20 May 1884 and graduated on 18 June 1888 as a Line Ensign. He was subsequently promoted to Sub-Lieutenant (8 January 1890), Lieutenant (14 November 1896), Lt. Commander (6 May 1905), and Commander (29 March 1910). He served aboard various ships and in staff positions, including as instructor at the Navy Academy (1908–09), and as captain of the destroyer '' Nafkratousa'' (1906), the ironclad ''

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 ...

'' (1910–11), the troop carrier ''Sfaktiria'' (1911 and 1912), and of the newly delivered cruiser ''

Georgios Averof George M. Averoff (15 August 1815, Metsovo – 15 July 1899, Alexandria), alternately Jorgos Averof or Georgios Averof (in Greek: Γεώργιος Αβέρωφ), was a businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the great national benefactors o ...

'' (1911), as well as chief of staff of the Exercise Squadron (1911). With the outbreak 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 ...

in October 1912, he became captain of ''Averof'' as well as chief of staff to the Aegean Fleet commander, Rear Admiral

Pavlos Koundouriotis Pavlos Kountouriotis ( el, Παύλος Κουντουριώτης; 9 April 1855 – 22 August 1935) was a Greek rear admiral during the Balkan Wars, regent, and the first President of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times a ...

, who used the ''Averof'' as his flagship. In this capacity he participated in the two victorious naval battles of

Elli In Norse mythology (a subset of Germanic mythology), Elli (Old Norse: , "old age"Orchard (1997:38).) is a personification of old age who, in the ''Prose Edda'' book ''Gylfaginning'', defeats Thor in a wrestling match.Graeme Davis (2013). ''Tho ...

and

Lemnos Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...

, as well as the capture of several Aegean islands as well as

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

and

Dedeagatch Alexandroupolis ( el, Αλεξανδρούπολη, ), Alexandroupoli, or Alexandrople is a city in Greece and the capital of the Evros regional unit. It is the largest city in Western Thrace and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It h ...

. On 2 June 1913, he was promoted to Captain, and to Rear Admiral on 15 April 1914. After briefly assuming command of the Battleship Squadron, he was appointed Chief of the Navy General Staff in June 1914, serving until the resignation of King

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

and the assumption of government by

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...

in June 1917. The new government placed him on suspended service and retired him on 20 October 1917, followed by internal exile in 1918–20. After the Venizelist electoral defeat in November 1920 and the return of King Constantine, he was recalled to active service (6 November 1920) and served as Chief of the Aegean Fleet (January–April 1921), which he led in the attempts to stop the seaborne resupply of

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mo ...

Turkish National Movement The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...

, and again Chief of the Navy General Staff (December 1921-October 1922). After the Greek defeat 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 ...

and the

11 September 1922 Revolution The 11 September 1922 Revolution ( el, Επανάσταση της 11ης Σεπτεμβρίου 1922) was an uprising by the Greek army and navy against the government in Athens. The revolution took place on 24 September 1922, although the date wa ...

, he was again placed into suspended service and retired on 19 January 1923 as Vice Admiral. On 2 March 1935, he became Minister for Naval Affairs in the

Panagis Tsaldaris Panagis Tsaldaris (also Panagiotis Tsaldaris or Panayotis Tsaldaris; el, Παναγιώτης (Παναγής) Τσαλδάρης; 5 March 1868 – 17 May 1936) was a Greek politician and the 48th Prime Minister of Greece. He was a revered conse ...

cabinet, a post he kept until the government's resignation on 10 October 1935. On 25 March 1935, he was recalled to active service as a full Admiral for exceptional service, remaining in active commission until 20 November 1935. In 1939, he edited and published the ''Averof''s captain's log during the Balkan Wars period. He died in Athens in 1952.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dousmanis, Sofoklis 1868 births 1952 deaths Chiefs of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Sofoklis Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek military personnel of World War I Greek monarchists Greek memoirists Hellenic Navy admirals Ministers of Naval Affairs of Greece Military personnel from Corfu Prisoners and detainees of Greece