Sotirios Gotzamanis ( el, Σωτήριος Γκοτζαμάνης; 1884 – November 28, 1958) was a
Greek physician and
politician.
Early life
He was born in
Giannitsa,
Central Macedonia, which at the time of his birth was part of the
Ottoman Empire. He studied medicine in
Padua,
Italy. In 1913, he moved to
Thessaloniki when his home region became part of Greece in the aftermath of 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 ...
.
Political career
From 1919 to 1936, he served in 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 Thessaloniki-
Pella constituency. He served as Minister of Health, Welfare and Care in the first government of
Panagis Tsaldaris (1932–1933). In the
parliamentary elections of 1936, he was leader of the
National Reform Party.
Collaboration with the Axis Powers
After the
German invasion of Greece, he supported
collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
with the
Axis powers. On April 30, 1941, he was appointed minister of finance in the collaborationist government of
Georgios Tsolakoglou. After the dismissal of Tsolakoglou on December 2, 1942, Gotzamanis continued in his post in the government of
Konstantinos Logothetopoulos. His ministry also oversaw agriculture, industry, trade and labor. When Logothetopoulos was dismissed in 1943, the Italians favored him to succeed Logothetopoulos as
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 ...
, but the position went to
Ioannis Rallis
Ioannis Rallis ( el, Ιωάννης Δ. Ράλλης; 1878 – 26 October 1946) was the third and last collaborationist prime minister of Greece during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, holding office from 7 April 1943 to 12 Oct ...
instead.
After the liberation of Greece
As the Axis forces withdraw from Greece in 1944, Gotzamanis fled to Italy and then
Nazi Germany. In his absence, a Greek court sentenced him to death in January 1945 for treason. He returned to Greece several years later and was a candidate for
mayor of Thessaloniki
The Mayor of Thessaloniki is the head of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the most populated municipality in the Thessaloniki Urban Area and centre of the urban area, which makes up the "City of Thessaloniki".
The current mayor of the city is K ...
in 1954. He participated in the
elections of 11 May 1958. He died 6 months later of a stroke and
uremia at the age of 73. He is buried in Thessaloniki.
[ ''Μακεδονία'' (2 Δεκεμβρίου 1958).]
References
Sources
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Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotzamanis, Sotirios
1884 births
1958 deaths
Finance ministers of Greece
Greek MPs 1936
MPs of Thessaloniki
Greek collaborators with Fascist Italy
People convicted of treason against Greece
Greek collaborators with Nazi Germany
Greek MPs 1920–1922
Greek MPs 1924–1925
Greek MPs 1926–1928
Greek MPs 1928–1932
Greek MPs 1932–1933
Greek MPs 1933–1935
Greek MPs 1935–1936
People from Giannitsa
Expatriates from the Ottoman Empire in Italy