View source for Georgios Papandreou

{{Short description|Prime minister of Greece (1888–1968)}}
{{for multi|his grandson and former Prime Minister of Greece|George Papandreou|the Greek historian and linguist|Georgios Papandreou (historian)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
<!-- DO NOT ADD HONORIFICS OR NUMBERS OF SUCCESSION; THEY ARE NOT USED IN GREECE -->| name                            = Georgios Papandreou 
| native_name         = {{nobold|{{Lang|el|Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου}}}}
| image               = File:Georgios Papandreu (Papandreou).jpg
| caption             = Papandreou in 1968 
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Greece]]
| term_start1         = 19 February 1964
| term_end1           = 15 July 1965
| monarch1            = [[Paul of Greece|Paul]]<br>[[Constantine II of Greece|Constantine II]]
| predecessor1        = [[Ioannis Paraskevopoulos]]
| successor1          = [[Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas]]

| term_start2         = 8 November 1963
| term_end2           = 30 December 1963
| monarch2            = Paul

| predecessor2        = [[Stylianos Mavromichalis]]
| successor2          = [[Ioannis Paraskevopoulos]]

| term_start3         = 26 April 1944
| term_end3           = 3 January 1945
| monarch3            = [[George II of Greece|George II]]
| 1blankname3         = Regent 
| 1namedata3          = [[Damaskinos of Athens|Archbishop Damaskinos]]<BR><small>(from December 1944)</small>
| predecessor3        = [[Sofoklis Venizelos]]
| successor3          = [[Nikolaos Plastiras]]

| office4             = [[Deputy Prime Minister of Greece]]
| primeminister4      = [[Sofoklis Venizelos]]
| term_start4         = 28 August 1950
| term_end4           = 4 July 1951
| predecessor4        = ''himself''
| successor4          = [[Emmanouil Tsouderos]]
| term_start5         = 15 April 1950
| term_end5           = 21 August 1950
| predecessor5        = [[Panagiotis Kanellopoulos]]
| successor5          = ''himself''
| primeminister5      = [[Nikolaos Plastiras]]
| office6             = [[Minister of Education]]
| term_start6         = 18 February 1964
| term_end6           = 15 July 1965
| predecessor6        = Georgios Kourmoulis
| successor6          = [[Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas]]
| primeminister6      = ''himself''
| term_start7         = 8 November 1963
| term_end7           = 30 December 1963
| primeminister7      = ''himself''
| predecessor7        = Ioannis Sountis
| successor7          = Georgios Kourmoulis
| term_start8         = 1 February 1951
| term_end8           = 4 July 1951
| primeminister8      = [[Sofoklis Venizelos]]
| predecessor8        = Nicholas Bakopoulos
| successor8          = Nicholas Bakopoulos
| term_start9         = 16 January 1933
| term_end9           = 6 March 1933
| primeminister9      = [[Eleftherios Venizelos]]
| predecessor9        = Dimitrios Chatziskos
| successor9          = [[Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian]]
| term_start10        = 2 January 1930
| term_end10          = 26 May 1932
| primeminister10     = [[Eleftherios Venizelos]]
| predecessor10       = Konstantinos Gontikas
| successor10         = Pericles Karapanos
| birth_name          = Georgios Stavropoulos
| birth_date          = 13 February 1888
| birth_place         = [[Kalentzi]], [[Achaea]], Greece
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=y|1968|11|1|1888|02|18}}
| death_place         = [[Athens]], Greece<ref name="EB">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/441882/Georgios-Papandreou Encyclopædia Britannica: ''Georgios Papandreou''] Retrieved 30 June 2010</ref>
| spouse              = Sofia Mineyko <br /> [[Cybele Andrianou]]
| children            = [[Andreas Papandreou]]<br />Georgios G. Papandreou
| nationality         = [[Greece|Greek]]
| party               = * [[Liberal Party (Greece)|Liberal Party]] (1914–1935) 
* Democratic Party (1935–1936) <small>''the party  ceased to exist due to the declaration of Metaxas' dictatorship''</small>
* [[Democratic Socialist Party of Greece]] (1945–1953) 
*[[Liberal Party (Greece)|Liberal Party]] (1953–1958) 
*[[Centre Union]] (1961–1968) <ref>[https://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/8c3e9046-78fb-48f4-bd82-bbba28ca1ef5/%CE%93%CE%95%CE%A9%CE%A1%CE%93%CE%99%CE%9F%CE%A3%20%CE%A0%CE%91%CE%A0%CE%91%CE%9D%CE%94%CE%A1%CE%95%CE%9F%CE%A5_30%20%CE%A7%CE%A1%CE%9F%CE%9D%CE%99%CE%91%20%CE%9C%CE%9D%CE%97%CE%9C%CE%97%CE%A3.pdf Βουλή των Ελλήνων] (Hellenic Parliament)</ref>
| signature           = Georgios-papandreou-senior-signature.svg
| relations           = [[George Papandreou]] (grandson) <br> [[Nikos Papandreou]] (grandson)
}}

'''Georgios Papandreou''' ({{Langx|el|Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου}}, ''Geórgios Papandréou''; 13 February 1888 &ndash; 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.<ref>David Wilsford, ed. ''Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary'' (Greenwood, 1995) pp 368–375.</ref>

After studying law in [[Athens]] and political science in [[Berlin]], Papandreou enlisted as a volunteer in the [[First Balkan War]]. He first run for political office in the [[1920 Greek parliamentary election|1920 national elections]] and was a principal member of the [[11 September 1922 Revolution]] that overthrew King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]]. Thereafter, he became a prominent [[Liberal Party|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 Hellenic Republic|Second Republic]], [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] elevated him to the ministries of [[Ministry of Education (Greece)|Education]] and [[Ministry of Transport (Greece)|Transport]] in 1930 and 1933 respectively, overseeing the construction of over three thousand schools amidst the [[Greek refugees|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 [[Fascist Italy|Italian]] [[Royal Italian Army|forces]] in [[World War II]] during the [[Axis Occupation of Greece]], he agreed to head the Greek [[Greek government-in-exile|government–in–exile]] in 1944. As [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Wehrmacht|forces]] evacuated Greece in October 1944, Papandreou became the first post–occupation prime minister, heading a [[unity government]] and overseeing the suppression of communist [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|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 Greek parliamentary election|1952 elections]], resulting in the former relinquishing the party leadership to Papandreou. Despite winning the popular vote, the short–lived [[Democratic Union (Greece, 1956)|Democratic Union]] failed to win the [[1956 Greek parliamentary election|1956 elections]]. The merger of the Liberal Party and other parties in 1961 created the [[Centre Union]] that Papandreou led in [[1961 Greek parliamentary election|that year's elections]]. Incumbent [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]] won the election, but Papandreou alleged [[voter fraud|fraud]] in the results, proclaiming a "relentless struggle" against the incumbent government.

The Centre Union won a minority vote in the [[1963 Greek parliamentary election|1963 elections]] and formed a government in the [[1964 Greek parliamentary election|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|free education]] on all levels. In foreign policy, he assumed a pro–[[Enosis]] stance amidst [[Cypriot intercommunal violence|clashes]] in Cyprus, and was increasingly advised by his son, [[Andreas Papandreou]]. 

His relationship with the new King, [[Constantine II of Greece|Constantine II]], was deteriorating, and following the refusal of [[Minister of National Defence (Greece)|Minister of National Defence]] [[Petros Garoufalias]] to vacate his position regarding the ASPIDA scandal in the [[Hellenic Army|army]], Papandreou openly clashed with the King and resigned in July 1965. The latter lured in Centre Union members to form unelected coalition governments, resulting in [[Iouliana|prolonged political instability]] for the next two years. Papandreou denounced the "Apostates" of the Centre Union and declared a second "struggle", together with his son, Andreas. Before the 1967 elections could commence, a coup d'etat in April 1967 saw the installation of a [[Greek Junta|military regime]] and the arrest of both Papandreous. Georgios was placed under house arrest and died in November 1968.

Papandreou was known as the "Old Man of Democracy" by his supporters. He established a political dynasty, that most prominently included his son Andreas, who would later serve as prime minister from 1981 to 1989 and 1993 to 1996, and grandson [[George Papandreou|George]], who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2011.

==Early life==
Papandreou was born '''Georgios Stavropoulos''' at [[Kalentzi]], in the [[Achaea]] region of the northern [[Peloponnese]].<ref name="EB"/> He was the son of Father Andreas Stavropoulos, an Orthodox [[archpriest]] (protopresvyteros). His last name is derived from his father's Christian name and the word ''papas'' "priest". He studied [[law]] in [[Athens]] and [[political science]] in [[Berlin]]. His political philosophy was heavily influenced by German [[social democracy]]. As a result, he was adamantly opposed to the monarchy and supported generous social policies, but he was also extremely [[anti-communist]] (and specifically against the [[Communist Party of Greece|KKE]]'s policies in Greece). As a young man, he became involved in politics as a supporter of the Liberal leader [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], who made him governor of [[Chios]] after the [[Balkan Wars]]. One of his brothers, Nikos, was killed in the [[Battle of Kilkis-Lachanas]].

He married twice. His first wife was Sofia Mineyko, a [[Polish people|Polish]] national, daughter of [[Zygmunt Mineyko]] and paternal granddaughter of Stanislaw Mineyko (1802–1857). Their son [[Andreas Papandreou]] was born in [[Chios]] in 1919. His second wife was the actress [[Cybele Andrianou]] and their son was named George Papandreou.

==Political career==
During [[National Schism|the political crisis]] surrounding [[Greece in World War I|Greece's entry]] into the [[First World War]], Papandreou was one of Venizelos's closest supporters against the pro-German monarch, [[Constantine I of the Hellenes|King Konstantínos I]]. When Venizelos in 1916 left Athens, Papandreou accompanied him to [[Crete]], and then went to [[Lesbos]], where he mobilised anti-monarchist supporters in the islands and rallied support for Venizelos's insurgent [[Movement of National Defence|pro-Allied government in Thessaloniki]].

[[File:Plastiras Gonatas and Georgios Papandreou, 1922, in Mousounitsa.jpg|thumb|200px|The leadership of the [[1922 Revolution]], Colonels [[Nikolaos Plastiras|Plastiras]] and Gonatas, with their political advisor, Geórgios Papandreou senior (left).]]

In the [[1920 Greek legislative election|1920 general election]], Papandreou unsuccessfully ran as an independent liberal in the [[Lesbos]] constituency. In 1921 as a lawyer he defended [[Alexandros Papanastasiou]], during a trial for his critic against King Konstantínos. Because of an article calling on King Konstantínos to abdicate, he was imprisoned by the royalist regime and later he narrowly escaped assassination from royalist extremists in Lesbos.

From January to October 1923, he served as [[Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction|interior minister]] in the cabinet of [[Stylianos Gonatas]]. In the December [[1923 Greek legislative election|1923 elections]], he was elected as a [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] [[Liberal Party (Greece)|Liberal Party]] member of parliament for [[Lésvos]], and served as finance minister for just 11 days in June 1925, education minister in 1930&ndash;1932 and transport minister in 1933.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Who's Who in Greece|publisher = Athens News|year = 1959|location = Athens|pages = 255–256}}</ref> As minister of education he reformed the Greek school system and built many schools for the children of refugees of the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)|Greco-Turkish War]]. During the dictatorship of [[Theodoros Pangalos (general)|Pangalos]], he was again imprisoned.

In 1935, he set up the [[Democratic Socialist Party of Greece]]. The same year, a royalist coup by [[General]] [[Georgios Kondylis|Geórgios Kondylis]] took place for the re-establishment of monarchy and he was placed in internal exile. A lifelong opponent of the [[Greek monarchy]], he was again exiled in 1938 by the Greek royalist dictator [[Ioannis Metaxas]].

Following the [[Axis occupation of Greece]] in the [[Second World War]], he was imprisoned by the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italian]] authorities. He later fled to the [[Middle East]] and joined the predominantly Venizelist government-in-exile based in the [[Kingdom of Egypt]]. With British support, [[George II of the Hellenes|King Geórgios II]] appointed him as prime minister, and under his premiership took place the [[Lebanon conference]] (May 1944) and later the [[Caserta Agreement]] (September 1944), in an attempt to stop the crisis in Greece and the conflicts between [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|EAM]] and non-EAM forces (a prelude of the [[Greek Civil War|civil war]]) and establish a national unity government.

===Liberation of Greece and the ''Dekemvrianá'' events===
{{Further|Dekemvriana}}

[[File:Η ελληνική σημαία μεταφέρεται για να υψωθεί στην Ακρόπολη μετά την απελευθέρωση της Αθήνας, Οκτώβριος 1944.jpg|thumb|200px|Geórgios Papandreou and others on the [[Acropolis of Athens]], after the liberation from the Axis powers.]]

After the evacuation of [[Greece]] by the Axis powers, he entered [[Athens]] (October 1944) as Prime Minister of the [[Greek government-in-exile]] with some units of the [[Greek Army]] and the allied British. During the same month, he became prime minister in the {{Interlanguage link multi|Greek Government of National Unity (1944) |lt=Greek Government of National Unity|el|3=Κυβέρνηση Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου Εθνικής Ενότητος 1944}}, which had succeeded the Greek government-in-exile. He tried to normalise the highly polarised situation between the EAM and non-EAM forces, collaborating mainly with [[Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Ronald Scobie|Sir Ronald Scobie]], who was, after the Caserta agreement, responsible for all the Allied forces.

Although he resigned in 1945, after the ''[[Dekemvriana]]'' events, he continued to hold high office. From 1946&ndash;1952 he served as labour minister, supplies minister, education minister, finance minister and public order minister. In 1950&ndash;1952, he was also [[deputy prime minister]].

The 1952&ndash;1961 period was a very difficult one for Papandreou. The liberal political forces in the [[Kingdom of Greece]] were gravely weakened by internal disputes and suffered electoral defeat from the conservatives. Papandreou continuously accused [[Sofoklis Venizelos]] for these maladies, considering his leadership dour and uninspiring.

===Founder of the Centre Union and later confrontation with the Palace===
In 1961, Papandreou revived Greek liberalism by founding the [[Centre Union]] Party, a confederation of old liberal Venizelists, social democrats and dissatisfied conservatives. After the [[1961 Greek legislative election|elections]] of "violence and fraud" of 1961, Papandreou declared a "Relentless Struggle" against the right-wing [[National Radical Union|ERE]] and the "parakrátos" ([[deep state]]) of the right.

Finally, his party won the [[1963 Greek legislative election|elections]] of November 1963 and those of 1964, the second with a [[1964 Greek legislative election|landslide majority]]. His progressive policies as premier aroused much opposition in conservative circles, as did the prominent role played by his son [[Andreas Papandreou]], whose policies were seen as being considerably left of center. Andreas disagreed with his father on many important issues, and developed a network of political organizations, the "Democratic Leagues" (''Dimokratikoi Syndesmoi'') to lobby for more progressive policies. He also managed to take control of the Center Union's youth organization.

Papandreou had opposed the [[Zürich and London Agreement]], which led to the foundation of the Republic of [[Cyprus]]. Following clashes between the [[Greek Cypriots|Greek]] and [[Turkish Cypriots|Turkish]] communities, his government sent a [[Greek army]] division to the island.

[[Constantine II of the Hellenes|King Constantine II]] openly opposed Papandreou's government, and there were frequent ultra-rightist plots in the Army, which destabilised the government. Finally, the King engineered a split in the Centre Union, and in July 1965, in a crisis known as ''[[Iouliana]],'' he dismissed the government following a dispute over control of the Ministry of Defence.

After the April 1967 military coup by the [[Greek military junta of 1967-1974|Colonels' junta]] led by [[Georgios Papadopoulos|George Papadopoulos]], Papandreou was arrested. Papandreou died under house arrest in November 1968. His funeral became the occasion for a massive anti-dictatorship demonstration. He is interred at the [[First Cemetery of Athens]], alongside his son Andreas.

==Legacy==

Papandreou was regarded as one of the best [[orator]]s in the Greek political scene and a persistent fighter for Democracy. During the junta and after his death he was often referred to affectionately as '''"ο Γέρος της Δημοκρατίας"''' (''o Géros tis Dimokratías, the old man of Democracy''). Since his grandson [[George Papandreou|George A. Papandreou]] entered politics, most Greek writers use Γεώργιος (''Geórgios'') to refer to the grandfather and the less formal Γιώργος (''Giórgos'') to refer to the grandson.

A wide range of progressive social reforms were also carried out during Papandreou’s premiership. Improvements in health and welfare were carried out, while general government transfers to households for education services rose by over 55%, and big increases in the enrollment of pupils in both secondary and higher education institutions took place. In addition, consumption per capita rose from 14,000 drachmae to 17,000 drachmae. Income distribution also improved as a result of his party’s income policy, which was geared towards increasing wage and agricultural income.<ref>THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GREEK ECONOMY, 1951-1991 An Historical, Empirical, and Econometric Analysis by George A. Jouganatos, Greenwood Press, 1992, P.52-53</ref>   

==Decorations and awards==
In 1965, the [[University of Belgrade]] awarded him an [[honorary doctorate]].

==Works==
*''The Liberation of Greece'', Athens, 1945.

==See also==
*[[Andreas Papandreou]], his son
*[[George Papandreou]], his grandson

==References==
{{more citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Kassimeris, Christos. "Causes of the 1967 Greek coup". ''Democracy and Security'' 2#1 (2006): 61–72.
* Wilsford, David, ed. ''Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary'' (Greenwood, 1995) pp.&nbsp;346–375.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/013206}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{Succession box|title= [[Prime Minister of Greece]]|before=[[Sofoklis Venizelos]]|after=[[Nikolaos Plastiras]]|years=1944–1945}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of Greece]]|before=[[Stylianos Mavromichalis]]|after=[[Ioannis Paraskevopoulos]]|years=1963}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of Greece]]|before=[[Ioannis Paraskevopoulos]]|after=[[Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas]]|years=1964–1965}}
{{S-end}}

{{Heads of government of Greece}}
{{Foreign Ministers of Greece}}
{{Interior Ministers of Greece}}
{{Provisional Government of National Defence}}
{{Greece during World War I}}
{{Greece during World War II|state=collapsed}}
{{Social democracy in Greece}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papandreou, Georgios}}
[[Category:Georgios Papandreou| ]]
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Greece]]
[[Category:People from Achaea]]
[[Category:Papandreou family|George 01]]
[[Category:Liberal Party (Greece) politicians]]
[[Category:Democratic Socialist Party of Greece politicians]]
[[Category:National Political Union (1946) politicians]]
[[Category:Georgios Papandreou Party politicians]]
[[Category:Greek Rally politicians]]
[[Category:Liberal Democratic Union (Greece) politicians]]
[[Category:Centre Union politicians]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of Greece]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Greece]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Greece]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1924–1925]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1926–1928]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1928–1932]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1932–1933]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1933–1935]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1946–1950]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1950–1951]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1952–1956]]
[[Category:Greek MPs 1956–1958]]
[[Category:MPs of Achaea]]
[[Category:MPs of Lesbos]]
[[Category:Greek nationalists]]
[[Category:World War II political leaders]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Greece]]
[[Category:Greek Resistance members]]
[[Category:European democratic socialists]]
[[Category:Greek anti-communists]]
[[Category:1950s in Greek politics]]
[[Category:1960s in Greek politics]]
[[Category:20th-century Greek lawyers]]
[[Category:Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Greek republicans]]
[[Category:Iouliana]]