Stamatis Stamatiou (Nafpaktos 1881 - Thessaloniki 9 July 1946) was a Greek journalist, author, cartoonist and politician. As a journalist and author he is more widely known with his initials "Stam. Stam.", his usual signature. He served as prefect in prefectures of Macedonia and Crete.

Early life and studies

He was born in

Nafpaktos Nafpaktos ( el, Ναύπακτος) is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, situated on a bay on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, west of the mouth of the river Mornos. It is named for Naupaktos (, Latinize ...

in 1881. His parents were Georgios and Vassiliki Stamatiou (née Andreopoulou). His younger brother was Haris Stmatiou (1890-1951), also a journalist and an author. He got involved in journalism from a very young age, first writing for the ''Diaplasis ton Paidon'' and later working for the '' Akropolis'' of

Vlassis Gavriilidis Vlassis is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Aristidis Vlassis (1947–2015), Greek painter * Vlassis Bonatsos (1949–2004), Greek actor * Vlassis Maras, Greek gymnast * Vlassis G. Rassias (1959–2019), Gree ...

. He graduated from the Lycee Leonin of

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 ...

and studied law at 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 ...

. He spent 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 ...

in 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 ...

while working as a journalist and writing military stories. In a heroic feat, when a reserve

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

, in July 1913, he stole a red flag when fighting against the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

in the battle of

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

in July 1913. For this action, he was honoured with a promotion to the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Prefect

Stamatiou was a

Venizelist Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s. Main ideas Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek irredentism: T ...

. In the 1910s he served as vice-governor in Sidirokastro, later in

Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...

. He took part in the National Defense Movement. He was prefect of Florina (1917-1918), Pella (1918-1920, 1922–1924), Drama (1924-1925) and Rethymno (1929-1933).

Humorist and cartoonist

Stamatiou wrote many humorous stories in various newspapers and journals ('' Akropolis'', '' Ethnos'', ''Μπουκέτο'', κ.ά.). His writings, written in a Roumeliote dialect and accompanied by his cartoons, were signed by his initials "Stam. Stam." and were generally titled "Stories from the village." This was the title of the book containing some of his humorous stories in 1946. In 1974 another volume of humorous stories was published under the title "Humorous and satirical" (Greek: ''Εύθυμα και σατιρικά)''.

Last years and death

During the Greco-Italian War of 1940-1941 he followed the

as a war correspondent till

Pogradec Pogradec () is the eleventh most populous city in Albania and the capital of the eponymous municipality. It is located on a narrow plain between two mountain chains along the southwestern banks of the Lake of Ohrid. Its climate is profoundly inf ...

. During the

Occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

, his health suffererd. He died in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

on July 9, 1946. Stamatiou received the Silver Cross of the Order of the Saviour for his offer to the Greek nation. He also received the title of Knight of the Legion of Honour from the

government of France The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

in 1918. He got married in 1922 with Theano Dodou, from

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

, where he spent the last years of his life. Η. The Society of Nafpaktian Studies held a philological conference in Stamatiou's and his brother's, Haris's, honour in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stamatiou, Stamatis Greek cartoonists Greek journalists Commons category link is on Wikidata 1881 births 1946 deaths People from Nafpaktos