Stylianos Pattakos ( el, Στυλιανός Παττακός; 8 November 1912 – 8 October 2016) was a Greek military officer. Pattakos was one of the principals of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that overthrew the government of

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos or Panayotis Kanellopoulos ( el, Παναγιώτης Κανελλόπουλος; 13 December 1902, in Patras, Achaea – 11 September 1986, in Athens) was a Greek writer, politician and Prime Minister of Greece. He w ...

in a coup d'état on 21 April 1967.

Biography

Pattakos was born on 8 November 1912, in the village of Agia Paraskevi in Rethymno Prefecture,

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, and studied at 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 ...

. He was married to Dimitra Nikolaidi and had two daughters, Rosa and Eirini. His parents were farmers. He served as a Lieutenant during the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and G ...

(1940-1941) and as cavalry captain and cavalry major during 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 and ...

(1946-1949). He was a deeply religious man. Pattakos eventually rose to the rank of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

and was assigned to the tank training centre at

Goudi Goudi (, since 2006; formerly Γουδί ) is a residential neighbourhood of Athens, Greece, on the eastern part of town and on the foothills of Mount Hymettus. History The name of the area derives from the 19th century Goudi (Γουδή) famil ...

in Athens. He, along with

Georgios Papadopoulos Geórgios Papadopoulos (; el, Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος ; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greeks, Greek military officer and political leader who ruled Greece as a military dictator from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Hellenic ...

and

Nikolaos Makarezos Nikolaos Makarezos ( el, Νικόλαος Μακαρέζος; 1919 – 3 August 2009) was a Greek Army officer and one of the masterminds of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. Early life and career He was born in 1919 in the village of ...

, planned and executed the coup on the night of April 20 to April 21, 1967, claiming political anomaly had made them do so. Many leading politicians and journalists were arrested that night and were led to a hotel in Pikermi. Among them were Kοnstantinos Mitsotakis, Andreas Papandreou, Georgios Rallis, Manolis Glezos. Pattakos was assigned the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. Greece: The First 100 Days Time Magazine
"Brig. Gen. Stylianos Pattakos Minister of the Interior" He became also the vice president of Kollias government. As head of that post, Pattakos made the decision to strip Greek actress and political activist, Melina Mercouri, of her Greek citizenship and to also confiscate her property. Mercouri retorted "I was born Greek. I will die Greek. Mr. Pattakos was born a fascist. He will die a fascist". On 25 November 1973, Brigadier General

Dimitrios Ioannides Dimitrios Ioannidis ( el, Δημήτριος Ιωαννίδης ; 13 March 1923 – 16 August 2010), also known as Dimitris Ioannidis and as The Invisible Dictator, was a Greek military officer and one of the leading figures in the junta that r ...

overthrew Papadopoulos. The following year, the 7-year Junta came to an end in the aftermath of the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-s ...

. The newly restored democratic government of

Constantine Karamanlis Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly Anglicisation, anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and List of he ...

put the junta officials on

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

with charges of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and

insurrection Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

against

and other co- conspirators.The Colonels on Trial
Time Magazine Retrieved 15 August 2008 Quote: "Along with 19 other former members of the ousted military junta, the ex-dictator was charged with acts of high treason and insurrection that had subjected Greece to 7½ years of dictatorship, from 1967 to 1974." Pattakos, along with the other leaders of the 1967 coup,

Papadopoulos Papadopoulos ( el, Παπαδόπουλος, ; meaning "son of a priest") is the most common Greek surname. It is used in Greece, Cyprus and countries of the Greek diaspora as well, such as the USA, United Kingdom, Australia and Scandinavian countri ...

and Makarezos, were sentenced to death for high treason, following the trial.Answering to History
Time magazine Retrieved 18 August 2008 Shortly after the sentences were pronounced, they were commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government. Pattakos remained in prison for 17 consecutive years. He was released from jail on 28 September 1990 by the government of

Konstantinos Mitsotakis Konstantinos Mitsotakis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was 7th Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. Hi ...

allegedly due to health reasons and was put under house arrest. He was obliged to report to the police office for registration every 15 days. He later stated that he did not regret any of his actions during the dictatorship. In addition, he denied that people were tortured during the dictatorship, except Alekos Panagoulis and Spiros Moustaklis, who "had it coming". Pattakos died of a stroke on 8 October 2016 at the age of 104. His funeral took place on 11 October 2016, in Crete. Despite his requirement to his family to keep the funeral small when his death came on the news, many people were quick to attend it. Among them was Christos Pappas (member of the parliament and member of the ultra-nationalist party Golden Dawn) and many others.

Other info

Pattakos was nicknamed "

trowel A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel. A power trowel is a much larger gas ...

" since he frequently appeared at project inaugurations with a trowel in hand. A staunch non-smoker, he had ordered also all the restaurants in Greece to serve fried potatoes.Ο Παττακός και οι πατάτες τηγανητές
/ref>

References

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pattakos, Stylianos 1912 births 2016 deaths Deputy Prime Ministers of Greece Greek anti-communists Greek nationalists Greek centenarians Men centenarians Leaders of the Greek junta Greek military personnel of World War II Greek Resistance members Hellenic Army generals Greek military personnel of the Greek Civil War Ministers of the Interior of Greece People convicted of treason against Greece People from Rethymno (regional unit) Prisoners sentenced to death by Greece