Early 20th-century Greek lawyer and politician; Prime Minister in 1924 and 1932
Alexandros Papanastasiou
(
Greek
:
Αλ?ξανδρο? Παπαναστασ?ου
; 8 July 1876 ? 17 November 1936) was a
Greek
lawyer, sociologist and politician who served twice as the
Prime Minister of Greece
in the
interwar period
, being a pioneer in the establishment of the
Second Hellenic Republic
.
Early years
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]
Papanastasiou was born on 8 July 1876 in
Tripoli
to Panagiotis Papanastasiou, a member of Parliament and Marigo Rogari-Apostolopoulou. He spent part of his childhood in
Kalamata
(1876?1883) and
Piraeus
(1883?1889). He studied law at the
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
(1895?1898), earning his doctorate in 1899 and a licence in 1901. From 1901 to 1905 he studied social science, law and philosophy at the
Friedrich Wilhelm University
of Berlin and in
Heidelberg
. In 1905 he goes to London, later on to Paris, continuing with his studies until 1907, when he decides to return to Greece. In 1908 with
Alexandros Delmouzos
founded the "Society of sociologists". He tried to combine political activity with scientific research.
[2]
Political career
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]
In 1910, Papanastasiou was elected for the first time to the
Hellenic Parliament
. He fought for agrarian reform in
Thessaly
seeking to break up the big farms that existed there since the rule of the
Ottoman Empire
and redistribute them to the local farmers. In 1916, he joined the
Provisional Government of National Defence
of
Eleftherios Venizelos
in
Thessaloniki
which sought to bring Greece at the side of the
Allies of World War I
. He was immediately rewarded with the governorship of the
Ionian Islands
.
After
World War I
, Papanastasiou took part in several Venizelos governments as Minister of Transportation, Minister of National Health and Interior Minister. When Venizelos lost the
1920 elections
, he remained in Greece and criticised the
People's Party
governments under the successive Prime Ministers
Dimitrios Rallis
,
Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos
,
Dimitrios Gounaris
,
Nikolaos Stratos
and
Petros Protopapadakis
for their mishandling of the ongoing
Greco-Turkish War of 1919?1922
.
In 1921, along with others, he published a document entitled the
Republican/Democratic Manifesto
(Δημοκρατικ? Μανιφ?στο), which criticised the monarchy, warning for future destruction in the Asian Minor front and finally calling Constantine I to resign, so Greece to survive. He stated that Greece was "the creation of the spirit, labour and struggles of her children. It is not the property of Royalty and no part of Greece can be sacrificed for the sake of personal interests of her monarch." For the publication of this manifesto, Papanastasiou was imprisoned along with the other signatories after a trial.
Georgios Papandreou
was his defender.
When the People's Party government collapsed, following the
Asia Minor Disaster
, Papanastasiou
formed a government
which, at his insistence, on 25 March 1924, proclaimed a Republic. The issue was submitted to a
plebiscite
with the voters
approving the abolition of the monarchy
on 13 April 1924. During his term of office, Papanastasiou also made proposals for the establishment of the
University of Thessaloniki
, the recognition of the common,
demotic
Greek language
, the establishment of adult education centres, etc.
From 1926 until 1928, he was Minister of Agriculture and was instrumental in the establishment of the
Agricultural Bank of Greece
. Papanastasiou briefly served as Prime Minister once more between May and June 1932. In 1936, he was placed under house arrest by the government of
Ioannis Metaxas
.
Papanastasiou died of a heart attack on 17 November 1936.
Premiership
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Immediately after the resignation of Georgios Kafantaris, because of the pressure he was under for the immediate proclamation of the Republic and the refusal of Andreas Michalakopoulos to assume the office, the Regent gave the mandate to form a government to Alexandros Papapanastasiou, who accepted it. In his programmatic statements on 24 March, Papanastasiou, after stressed that the National Assembly had constitutional rights and jurisdiction to declare the Republic, he submitted a draft resolution declaring the fall of the dynasty and the proclamation of the Republic, which, however, had to but would later be approved by referendum.
He also proposed the establishment of the Senate, a second legislative body, through which he aimed to improve of legislative and constitutional work. He also proposed introduction of the
proportional electoral system
.
Bibliography
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]
- Αλ?ξανδρο? Παπαναστασ?ου:
Θεσμο?, Ιδεολογ?α και Πολιτικ? στο Μεσοπ?λεμο.
Πολ?τυπο, Αθ?να 1987 (συλλογικ?? τ?μο?, πρακτικ? συνεδρ?ου).
References
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]
- ^
Note: Greece officially
adopted
the
Gregorian calendar
on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are
Old Style
.
- ^
The German Historical School and European Economic Thought, edited by Jose Luis Cardoso, Michalis
- Georg Veloudis, "Papanastasiu, Alexandros", in
Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Sudosteuropas
. Vol. 3. Munich 1979, pp. 391?393.
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