Eleftherios Stavridis
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eleftherios Stavridis or Lefteris Stavridis ( el, Ελευθέριος or Λευτέρης Σταυρίδης; 1893–1966) was a Greek journalist and politician. He was initially an activist of the Left, serving as
General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the
Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
in 1925–26, before being expelled from the Party in 1928 and undergoing a rapid ideological transition to the far right, becoming an ardent anti-communist. He participated in the
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
National Union of Greece, collaborated with the
Metaxas dictatorship The 4th of August Regime ( el, Καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, Kathestós tis tetártis Avgoústou), commonly also known as the Metaxas regime (, ''Kathestós Metaxá''), was a totalitarian regime under the leadership of Gener ...
and the Germans during the Axis occupation of Greece, and served as a prominent anti-communist propagandist for successive right-wing governments after the
Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
, until his death.


Early life

Eleftherios Stavridis was born in the village of Selymbria, near Constantinople, in 1893. He became an orphan at a young age, and his uncle, Nektarios Karabounis (later sainted by the Eastern Orthodox Church) became his guardian.Stavridis, ''Ta paraskinia tou KKE'', Synchroni Skepsis Editions, Athens 1988, Introductory note, p. 4 He later went to Constantinople, where he went to school at the Great School of the Nation. After finishing school, he left the Ottoman Empire and went to Athens, where he studied at the Rizareios School, where his uncle was headmaster. Appointed as a clerk in the Ministry of the Interior, he was called up for military service in the mobilization of 1915, being sent to Drama, where he was cut off following the occupation of the area by the Bulgarian army in 1916. In 1917, along with the rest of the city's male population he was moved to a concentration camp in
Pleven Pleven ( bg, Плèвен ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest ...
in Bulgaria, where he remained until the capitulation of Bulgaria at the end of World War I. At his return to Greece, he was appointed to the Eastern Macedonia Directorate at Drama.


Membership of the Communist Party

Stavridis became an early member of the Socialist Labour Party of Greece (SEKE), the predecessor of the later
Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
(KKE), joining its Drama branch soon after the party's foundation. In the 2nd Congress of SEKE in April 1920, he participated as representative of the Drama organization. In 1921 he was again called up for military service and sent to the front in the Asia Minor Campaign. Along with
Pantelis Pouliopoulos Pandelis Pouliopoulos ( Greek: Παντελής Πουλιόπουλος; 10 March 1900, Thebes6 June 1943, near Larissa) was a Greek communist and one-time general secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He stood for the international ...
and
Giorgos Nikolis Giorgos, Yiorgos or Yorgos ( el, Γιώργος) is a common abbreviation of the given name Georgios. Notable people with the name include: Persons Giorgos * Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer * Giorgos Alkaios, pop musician and singer * Gio ...
, he was an active propagandist among the troops of SEKE's uncompromising opposition to the Asia Minor Campaign. After the Greek defeat and retreat from Asia Minor, he returned to Athens and became an editor in the party newspaper, ''
Rizospastis ''Rizospastis'' ( el, Ριζοσπάστης, "The Radical") is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Greece. It has been published daily since its first issue in 1916. Liana Kanelli is currently one of the senior editors of the news ...
''. With many of the leading figures in the party under arrest, Stavridis quickly rose to become a member of SEKE's leading circle. In September 1923, in SEKE's 2nd Extraordinary Congress, he was elected a member of the party's
Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
. In the 3rd Extraordinary Congress in December 1924, he was re-elected to the Central Committee, and along with Pouliopoulos played a leading role in the party's renaming as the "Communist Party of Greece" and its full adoption of the Russian Bolshevik model, together with the expulsion of most of the original founding members of the party. In September 1925 Stavridis was elected as provisional Secretary of the Central Committee, replacing Pouliopoulos, who had been arrested by the dictatorial regime of
Theodoros Pangalos Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos (; 11 January 1878 – 26 February 1952) was a Greek general, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the Septemb ...
. During Pangalos' overthrow by
Georgios Kondylis Georgios Kondylis DSO (; 14 August 1878 – 1 February 1936) was a Greek general, politician and prime minister of Greece. He was nicknamed ''Keravnos'', Greek for "thunder" or "thunderbolt". Military career Kondylis was born in Prouss ...
and the re-establishment of democratic rule in 1926, Stavridis suggested a co-operation with the
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
political parties, but the other members of the leadership rejected his proposal and remained steadfast adherents of the party's commitment to revolutionary struggle. In September 1926, he was replaced as Secretary by Pastias Giatsopoulos. In the November 1926 election, Stavridis was elected as a Member of Parliament for KKE in Kavala. Two years later, however, he was expelled from the party due to "pro-bourgeois deviation".


Shift to the right and anti-communist activism

Stavridis was to prove the accusations of "pro-bourgeois deviation" right by immediately joining
Georgios Kafantaris Georgios Kafantaris (alternative spellings: ''Kafandaris''; 13 October 1873 – 28 August 1946) was a Greek politician, born in Anatoliki Fragkista, Evrytania. Biography On 9 January 1919, Kafantaris joined the Cabinet of Greece under Prime Min ...
' Progressive Party, and by his rapid turn to ardent anti-communism; indeed, this volte-face cause him to be publicly beat up in Kavala, where he had been elected MP. Over the next few years Stavridis remained a member of Kafantaris' party and a close collaborator of Kafantaris himself, but at the same time he was actively involved in the foundation of a far-right and pro-
fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
group, the National Union of Greece (EEE). Stavridis later collaborated with the dictatorial
4th of August Regime The 4th of August Regime ( el, Καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, Kathestós tis tetártis Avgoústou), commonly also known as the Metaxas regime (, ''Kathestós Metaxá''), was a totalitarian regime under the leadership of Gener ...
of Ioannis Metaxas, and during the Axis occupation of Greece served as director of the ''
Akropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
'' newspaper. In 1946, Stavridis went to Thessaloniki, where his only child, a daughter, was born. With the outbreak of the
Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
later in the year he returned to Athens, where he lived in hiding in a hospital until the end of the war in 1949. In that year he returned to Thessaloniki, where he wrote for the local newspapers '' Makedonia'' and '' Ellinikos Vorras''. In the virulently anti-communist climate of the post-Civil War years, Stavridis soon became a major government-sponsored propagandist against the banned KKE and communism in general. In 1952 he was named director of the Thessaloniki Radio Station, and in 1953 he returned to Athens as advisor to the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Lt. General
Solon Gikas Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων;  BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
, and as instructor on ideology and the history of the KKE in the National Defence Academy, the War School and the
Hellenic Gendarmerie The Hellenic Gendarmerie (, ''Elliniki Chorofylaki'') was the national gendarmerie and military police (until 1951) force of Greece. History 19th century The Greek Gendarmerie was established after the enthronement of Otto of Greece, King Otto ...
Academy. From 1958 until 1964, under the National Radical Union governments of Konstantinos Karamanlis, Stavridis was appointed advisor to the Ministry of the Presidency of the Government. During this time he participated in the establishment of a clandestine anti-communist committee, which was funded by the government and aimed at combating the
United Democratic Left The United Democratic Left (, ''Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá'' (EDA)) was a left-wing political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74. Foundation The party was founded in July 1951 by prominent center-left ...
, the KKE's legal front which in the
1958 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1958. * 1958 Cardinal electors in Papal conclave * 1958 Papal conclave Africa * 1958 French Togoland parliamentary election * 1958 Nigerien Constituent Assembly election * 1958 South African general e ...
had come second and formed the main opposition party. The journalist and likewise former KKE member Georgios Georgalas, and the future leader of the Regime of the Colonels, Georgios Papadopoulos, were also members of the group.Το βρώμικο '58
/ref> Dismissed from his post as advisor by the
Centre Union The Centre Union ( el, Ἕνωσις Κέντρου ''Énōsis Kéntrou'', abbreviated ΕΚ) was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40 History The Centre Union was a politica ...
governments, in 1966 he was recalled to the post by the Stefanos Stefanopoulos government, but died on 14 May 1966, before assuming duties.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stavridis, Eleftherios 1893 births 1966 deaths General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Greece Greek anti-communists Greek journalists Greek fascists Greek military personnel of World War I Greek prisoners and detainees Greek writers People from Silivri Greek MPs 1926–1928 Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) 20th-century journalists