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

* * * Aναπαραγωγή από το * * *

Bibliography

* * {{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