From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greek army officer and politician
Pafsanias Katsotas
(
Greek
:
Παυσαν?α? Κατσ?τα?
, 1896 – 14 February 1991) was a
Hellenic Army
general and politician.
Biography
[
edit
]
Katsotas was born in the village of Stamna in
Aetolia-Acarnania
in 1896. He graduated from the
Hellenic Army Academy
in 1916 as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant, and served in the Army until his voluntary retirement in 1929. Following the outbreak of the
Greco-Italian War
in 1940, he was recalled to service, and fought in the
Albanian
front as a regimental commanding officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Following the
German invasion of Greece
in April 1941, he fled the country and joined the forces of the
Greek government in exile
in the
Middle East
. He assumed command of the
1st Greek Infantry Brigade
, with which he fought in the
Second Battle of El Alamein
.
After the liberation of Greece in 1944, he became
Minister of Public Order
in the short-lived cabinet of
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
(November 1945),
[1]
and head of the Athens Military Command. He retired again in 1946, and ran successfully for a seat in the
Hellenic Parliament
in the
March 1946 elections
, representing his native Aetolia-Acarnania. In 1949, during the last stages of the
Greek Civil War
, he was again recalled to service and appointed as head of the
Central Greece
Military Command. He retired in 1950 with the rank of
Major General
.
He was again elected to Parliament in the
March 1950 elections
. He became
Minister of the Interior
in the cabinet of
Sofoklis Venizelos
(March?April 1950),
[2]
and
Minister-Governor of Northern Greece
in the
Nikolaos Plastiras
cabinet (May?August 1950).
[3]
In 1954, he was elected
Mayor of Athens
, a post he occupied with minor interruptions until 1959. In 1960, Katsotas founded his own political party, the "Labour-Technical Party" (Εργατοτεχνικ? Κ?μμα), which in 1961 joined
Georgios Papandreou
's
Centre Union
. In February?June 1964, Katsotas served as Minister of Social Welfare in Papandreou's cabinet.
[4]
He last took part in the
1977 elections
as part of the
National Alignment
ticket. Katsotas died in 1991.
Awards
[
edit
]
Katsotas was decorated with the Grand Commander of the
Order of George I
and of the
Order of the Phoenix
with Swords. He also received the
Gold Cross of Valour
twice and the
War Cross
four times.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Pafsanias Katsotas
at Wikimedia Commons
|
---|
|
|
|
|
|
Commemoration
|
---|
Events
| |
---|
Museums
| |
---|
Popular culture
| |
---|
|
|