Stamatis Merkouris (

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 ...

: Σταμάτης Μερκούρης, 1895 - 1967) was a

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 ...

officer and politician, who served as an MP and a Cabinet Minister. A member of the prominent Merkouris family, he was the son of

Spyridon Mercouris Spyridon Mercouris ( el, Σπυρίδων Μερκούρης) (1856-1939) was a Greek politician and long-serving mayor of Athens in the early 20th century. He was born in Ermioni, Argolida, in 1856 to a prominent and wealthy family that had ta ...

, long-serving Mayor 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 ...

in the early 20th century, and the younger brother of

George Mercouris George S. Mercouris ( el, Γεώργιος Σ. Μερκούρης; 1886 – December 1943) was a Greek politician who served as a Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, and later founded the Greek National Socialist Party; a minor fascist pa ...

, far-right politician and Cabinet Minister. In contrast to his conservative father and brother, Stamatis would end up becoming a Member of Parliament for the Left; his daughter was the famous actress

Melina Mercouri Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a political family that was prominent over multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination a ...

, Minister of Culture in the socialist government of Andreas Papandreou.

Biography

Stamatis Merkouris was born in

in 1895, son of

and younger brother of

. He graduated from the

Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

of Cavalry, and fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1917-18 and the Greco-Turkish War in 1919-22. He then left the Army and entered politics, taking part in the creation of the People's Party, Greece's main center-right political force at the time. Merkouris later left the People's Party and joined the National Radical Party, founded by the former General

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� ...

. From 1929 until 1932, Stamatis Merkouris served as General Director of the Athens city government, under his father

, who was then serving his last term as Mayor of Athens. In 1935 he served as Undersecretary to the Prime Minister's Office, during Kondylis's brief premiership. 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 ...

, and after the Nazis had occupied Greece, he founded a resistance organization, the ''Rizospastiki Organosis'' (literally "Radical Organization") which, though small in size, helped many Greek officers and soldiers escape to the Middle East, where they joined the Allied war effort. After the liberation of Greece from the Nazis in 1944, Merkouris resumed his political career and became a government Minister, serving as Minister of Public Order (1945 - 1946), and Minister of Public Works (1946). He founded his own party, the ''Democratic Progressive Party'' which was eventually disbanded, and later he ended up collaborating with the Greek

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 ...

, serving as a Member of Parliament for them representing Athens, from 1958 until 1961, and from 1963 until his death in 1967.

Personal life

His daughter was actress and political activist

, Minister of Culture in the socialist government of Andreas Papandreou. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercouris, Stamatis 1895 births 1967 deaths Politicians from Athens People's Party (Greece) politicians National Radical Party (Greece) politicians National Progressive Centre Union politicians Greek Rally politicians United Democratic Left politicians Greek MPs 1935–1936 Greek MPs 1950–1951 Greek MPs 1952–1956 Greek MPs 1958–1961 Greek MPs 1963–1964 Greek MPs 1964–1967 Hellenic Army officers Greek military personnel of World War I Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek Resistance members Panathinaikos A.O. Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Military personnel from Athens