Georgios Papandreou

Biography

Georgios Papandreou (Greek: Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου, Geórgios Papandréou; 13 February 1888 – 1 November 1968) was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as the prime minister of Greece (1944–1945, 1963, 1964–1965). He was also deputy prime minister from 1950 to 1952, in the governments of Nikolaos Plastiras and Sofoklis Venizelos. He served numerous times as a cabinet minister, starting in 1923, in a political career that spanned more than five decades. After studying law in Athens and political science in Berlin, Papandreou enlisted as a volunteer in the First Balkan War. He first ran for political office in the 1920 national elections and was a principal member of the 11 September 1922 Revolution that overthrew King Constantine I. Thereafter, he became a prominent Liberal politician, surviving an assassination attempt in 1921 and being imprisoned by Theodoros Pangalos's dictatorship in 1925. After having briefly attained ministerial experience at the start of the Second Republic, Eleftherios Venizelos elevated him to the ministries of Education and Transport in 1930 and 1933 respectively, overseeing the construction of over three thousand schools amidst the Greek refugee crisis. He was again arrested and exiled in 1938 by the 4th of August Regime, remaining in exile for four years. Imprisoned by Italian forces in World War II during the Axis Occupation of Greece, he agreed to head the Greek government–in–exile in 1944. As German forces evacuated Greece in October 1944, Papandreou became the first post–occupation prime minister, heading a unity government and overseeing the suppression of communist EAM forces in Athens in the Dekemvriana. He resigned in early January 1945 and rose to becoming deputy leader of the Liberal Party under Sofoklis Venizelos. He would deputise both Venizelos and Nikolaos Plastiras as deputy prime minister before the Liberals lost the 1952 elections, resulting in the former relinquishing the party leadership to Papandreou. Despite winning the popular vote, the short–lived Democratic Union failed to win the 1956 elections. The merger of the Liberal Party and other parties in 1961 created the Centre Union that Papandreou led in that year's elections. Incumbent Konstantinos Karamanlis won the election, but Papandreou alleged fraud in the results, proclaiming a "relentless struggle" against the incumbent government. The Centre Union won a minority vote in the 1963 elections and formed a government in the 1964 elections. On his return as head of government, he led economic liberalization efforts and wealth redistribution policies amidst the Greek economic miracle, increased mandatory years in education and enforced free education on all levels. In foreign policy, he assumed a pro–Enosis stance amidst clashes in Cyprus, and was increasingly advised by his son, Andreas Papandreou. Papandreou was known as the "Old Man of Democracy" by his supporters.