Pavlos Kountouriotis

Pavlos Kountouriotis (Greek: Παύλος Κουντουριώτης, romanized: Pávlos Kountouriótis; 9 April 1855 – 22 August 1935) was a Greek admiral who served during the Balkan Wars, was regent of Greece, and the first president of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times as head of the Greek state, the most times in the history of the seat.

Pavlos Kountouriotis
Παύλος Κουντουριώτης
Kountouriotis c. 1915
President of Greece
In office 24 August 1926 – 10 December 1929
Prime Minister	See list Georgios Kondylis Alexandros Zaimis Eleftherios Venizelos
Preceded by	Theodoros Pangalos
Succeeded by	Alexandros Zaimis
In office 25 March 1924 – 6 April 1926
Prime Minister	See list Alexandros Papanastasiou Themistoklis Sofoulis Andreas Michalakopoulos Theodoros Pangalos
Preceded by	George II (as King of the Hellenes)
Succeeded by	Theodoros Pangalos
Regent of Greece
In office 23 December 1923 – 25 March 1924
Monarch	George II
Prime Minister	See list Stylianos Gonatas Eleftherios Venizelos Georgios Kafantaris Alexandros Papanastasiou
In office 28 October 1920 – 17 November 1920
Monarch	Vacant
Prime Minister	Eleftherios Venizelos
Succeeded by	Queen Mother Olga
Minister of the Navy
In office 24 September 1915 – 9 June 1916
Monarch	Constantine I
Prime Minister	Alexandros Zaimis Stephanos Skouloudis
Preceded by	Athanasios N. Miaoulis
Succeeded by	Konstantinos Kallaris
Personal details
Born	(1855-04-09)9 April 1855 Hydra, Kingdom of Greece
Died	22 August 1935(1935-08-22) (aged 80) Palaio Faliro, Second Hellenic Republic
Resting place	Hydra, Greece
Political party	Independent (Venizelist)
Spouses	Angeliki Petrokokkinou ​ ​ (m. 1889; died 1903)​ Helen Koupas ​ (m. 1918)​
Relations	Georgios Kountouriotis (grandfather) Lazaros Kountouriotis (great-uncle) Nikolaos Votsis (nephew)
Children	3, including Theodoros
Occupation	Naval officer politician
Awards	Grand Commander of the Order of the Redeemer
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Branch/service	Royal Hellenic Navy
Years of service	1875–1917
Rank	Návarchos (admiral)
Commands	Alfeios Miaoulis Georgios Averof
Battles/wars	Greco-Turkish War (1897) Cretan Revolt Balkan Wars First Balkan War First Battle of Lemnos Battle of Lesbos Battle of Elli Second Battle of Lemnos Second Balkan War

Early life

Pavlos Kountouriotis was born on the island of Hydra to Theodoros Kountouriotis, Consul and Member of the Greek Parliament and Loukia Negreponte. From his father's side he descended from the Kountouriotis, an Arvanite Hydriot family originally from the village of Kountoura, in the Megarid. Pavlos used Arvanitika frequently as well, and his personal secretary wrote about him that whenever he traveled to Hydra he preferred to use only Arvanitika. He was the grandson of Georgios, a shipowner who like many members of his family, participated in the Greek War of Independence and served as Prime Minister of Greece under King Otto. From his mother's side he was descended from the Negreponte family, a prominent family from Chios and was great-grandson of Constantine Hangerli, Prince of Wallachia. He was the second of nine children, including Ioannis Kountouriotis. Little is known of Pavlos' childhood. In 1875, following his family's long-standing naval tradition, he joined the Royal Hellenic Navy, presumably in the rank of Ensign.

Naval service

Kountouriotis and crew on the deck of Georgios Averof, 1912

The signal sent by Admiral Kountouriotis from the cruiser Georgios Averof to the fleet, at the start of the Battle of Elli.

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Translated it reads: "By the power of God and with the wishes of the King and in the name of Justice, I sail with unstoppable force and with confidence about victory against the enemy of the nation."

First achievements

In 1886, he took part in the naval operations at Preveza as a lieutenant. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, serving as lieutenant commander he commanded the ship Alfeios. His ship took part in at least two landings of Greek troops on the island of Crete in support of the Cretan Revolt.

In 1900, Kountouriotis, as the commanding officer of the three-masted cruiser Navarchos Miaoulis, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and brought the flag of the Hellenic Navy to the New World for the very first time. His orders were to present the flag of the Hellenic Navy to the 60,000 Greeks living in the U.S., but also to be the first exploratory mission of independent Greece. William McKinley, the President of the United States, invited Kountouriotis to the White House.

Kountouriotis served as an aide-de-camp to King George I from 1908 until 1911, receiving the rank of Captain in 1909. In June 1911, Kountouriotis was sent to Britain, to take control of the newly-commissioned Georgios Averof, following the "blue cheese mutiny". As he was highly esteemed, he quickly reimposed discipline and set sail for Greece.

Balkan Wars

On 16 April 1912 he was appointed Chief of the Navy General Staff until 16 September, when he was appointed of the Aegean Fleet, in view of the worsening situation in the Balkans, and the imminent outbreak of the First Balkan War.

Kountouriotis played a crucial role in the Greek government's decision to enter the war. Partly because the Greek fleet had not yet completed its modernization programme, and in view of the disaster of 1897, the Greek leadership remained ambivalent about Greece's prospects. Kountouriotis weighed in decisively in these discussions, proclaiming his confidence that even with the existing fleet, victory could be achieved, thanks to superior personnel. His reply to Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos became famous:

Mr. President, I do not occupy myself with x plus y and angles of divergence. I know to speak of one thing. Ships without capable personnel, are [nothing but] heavy lead that sinks in water. I assure you that with the ships we have, we shall do our job well.

During the Balkan Wars, with his flagship, Georgios Averof, he led the Greek Navy to major victories against the Turkish fleet in December 1912 (Battle of Elli) and in January 1913 (Battle of Limnos), bringing most of the Aegean islands under Greek control. His victories, due in large part to his daring but successful tactics, earned him the status of a national hero. He was promoted to vice admiral for "exceptional war service", the first Greek career officer since Konstantinos Kanaris to reach the rank (usually reserved for members of the Greek royal family).

Politics

In 1916, he became a minister in the Stephanos Skouloudis government, but, in disagreement with the pro-German feelings of King Constantine I, he followed Eleftherios Venizelos to Thessaloniki where he was assigned the ministry of Naval Affairs in Venizelos' National Defence government. Konstantínos was deposed, and replaced on the throne by his second-eldest son, The Prince Alexander. Kountouriotis subsequently retired from the navy with the honorary rank of full Admiral. On the death of the young King Alexander in 1920, he was elected Regent of Greece by the Greek Parliament on 28 October by a vote of 137 to 3. After the sitting government of Venizelos was defeated in the elections that took place in November 1920, Kountouriotis resigned as Regent on 17 November, to be replaced by Queen Olga, King Alexander's grandmother. The following month, King Constantine was restored.

President

Kountouriotis in 1924 is sworn in as the first President of the Second Hellenic Republic

After King George II of Greece was deposed, he served as the first president (provisional) of the Second Hellenic Republic, from September 1925 until his resignation in March 1926; in opposition to General Pangalos' dictatorship. He served a second time as a provisional president from August 1926 until December 1929.

Death and honours

Admiral Pávlos Kountouriotis died in 1935. Α World War II Greek destroyer and a Standard-class frigate, Kountouriotis, are named after him.

The cross on Kountouriotis' grave in Hydra

One of the two gold 100-Euro coins issued by Greece in 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the Balkan Wars featured Kountouriotis and Georgios Averof.

See also

• History of the Hellenic Navy