Komninos Pyromaglou ( el, Κομνηνός Πυρομάγλου; 1899 – 15 December 1980), 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 ...

teacher and politician, and one of the driving forces behind the foundation of the

National Republican Greek League The National Republican Greek League ( el, Εθνικός Δημοκρατικός Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος (ΕΔΕΣ), ''Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos'' (EDES)) was one of the major Greek Resistance, resistance group ...

(EDES), the second-largest Resistance organization in Axis-occupied Greece during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Drifting to the Left after the war, he became elected to Parliament and wrote extensively on his experiences during the Occupation and the Resistance.

Life

He was born in the village of Plaka in

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 ...

in 1899. After studying French literature at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, he taught at the Anargyreio School in

Spetses Spetses ( el, Σπέτσες, grc, Πιτυούσσα "Pityussa", Arvanitika: Πετσε̱) is an upscale affluent island in Attica, Greece. It is included as one of the Saronic Islands. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolis ...

from 1931 to 1932, at the Modern Greek Institute in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

from 1932 to 1934, and in the Athens Experimental School until 1938. In 1936, with the establishment of the dictatorial

Metaxas Regime Metaxās or Metaxa may refer to: Places * Metaxas Line, fortifications in northeastern Greece in 1935–1940 * Metaxas, Greece, a village in the Greek region of Macedonia * Metaxas Regime or 4th of August Regime, a short-lived authoritarian regim ...

, he became chairman of the United Anti-Dictatorial Front and secretary of the Parties' Initiative against the regime. For this he was sent by the regime to internal exile to

Sikinos Sikinos ( el, Σίκινος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Cyclades. It is located midway between the islands of Ios and Folegandros. Sikinos is part of the Thira regional unit. It was known as Oenoe or Oinoe ( grc, Οἰνόη, ...

. Following his release, he fled to France, where he met the exiled

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: ...

and republican leader, General Nikolaos Plastiras. In April–May 1941, Greece was overrun by German forces, and the country was occupied by the Germans, the Italians and the Bulgarians. Soon, resistance movements began to emerge, the principal one being the National Liberation Front (Greek: Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο, Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo, EAM). On 9 September, the

was founded with funding from the British, proclaiming the exiled and completely unaware Plastiras as its president. On the same day however, Pyromaglou left for Greece as Plastiras' representative. After arriving in Athens on September 23, he quickly established contact with officers and politicians.

Napoleon Zervas Napoleon Zervas ( el, Ναπολέων Ζέρβας; May 17, 1891 – December 10, 1957) was a Hellenic Army officer and resistance leader during World War II. He organized and led the National Republican Greek League (EDES), the second most signi ...

then convinced him to join EDES, which was promptly reformed in October, with Pyromaglou as its General Secretary, at the head of a five-man Executive Committee. During the Occupation, Pyromaglou continued as the head of the EDES, and became additionally General Vice-Commander of the National Groups of Greek Guerrillas (EOEA), EDES' military wing, headed by Zervas and operating chiefly in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. With the foundation of the EOEA, Pyromaglou left Athens and accompanied Zervas to Epirus. In Athens, the leadership of EDES passed to the prominent Venizelist generals

Stylianos Gonatas Stylianos Gonatas ( el, Στυλιανός Γονατάς; 15 August 1876 – 29 March 1966) was an officer of the Hellenic Army, Venizelist politician, and Prime Minister of Greece from 1922 and 1924. Early life and military career Gonatas was ...

and Theodoros Pangalos, who, fearing the rise of the communist-dominated National Liberation Front (EAM), quickly became involved in

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 occupation authorities. Pyromaglou remained in Epirus alongside Zervas, but became increasingly distanced by his rapprochement with the British, who supported the restoration of the

Greek monarchy The monarchy of Greece ( el, Μοναρχία της Ελλάδας, Monarchía tis Elládas) or Greek monarchy ( el, Ελληνική Μοναρχία, Ellinikí Monarchía) was the government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of ...

after the war. Pyromaglou took part as EDES' representative in the conferences held between the Greek resistance groups and the

Greek government in exile The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based in Cairo, Egypt, and hence it is also referr ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

in 1943 and in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in 1944. Following 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 ...

, in 1947 he left for France, living in Paris until 1955. He then returned to Greece, where he was president of the inter-party commission supervising the 1956 elections. In the 1958 election, he campaigned for 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 ...

in Athens, and was elected to 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 ...

. In 1963, he founded the tri-monthly ''Historical Review'' magazine. He died in 1980. Pyromaglou was married to Emmy Kartali sister of

Georgios Kartalis Georgios Kartalis ( el, Γεώργιος Καρτάλης, 1908–1957) was a Greek politician. Early life and political career Kartalis was born in Athens to a distinguished family from Volos. He went to school in Geneva and enrolled in the ET ...

(1908-1957).

Writings

* ''Ethniki Antistasi'' ("National Resistance"), Athens 1947 * ''Ai Eklogai tis 19is Fevrouariou 1956'' ("The Elections of 19 February 1956") * ''O Doureios Ippos. Politiki kai Ethniki Krisis kata tin Katochi'' ("Trojan Horse. Political and National Crisis during the Occupation", Athens 1958 * ''O Georgios Kartalis kai i Epochi tou 1934-1957'' ("

and his Age 1934-1957"), Athens 1965 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyromaglou, Komninos 1899 births 1980 deaths University of Paris alumni People from Lemnos Greek MPs 1958–1961 National Republican Greek League members Greek writers Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Greek expatriates in France