Epameinondas Deligiorgis (, ; 10 January 1829 – 14 May 1879) was a Greek freemason, lawyer and politician - the youngest

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Greece, Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Cabinet of Greece, Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's of ...

, taking office at the age of 36. His parliamentary activity numbered 13 years and he served as Prime Minister of the country 6 times. He was born in Tripoli, Arcadia, the son of Dimitrios Deligeorgis, a revolutionary and politician from

Missolonghi Missolonghi or Mesolongi (, ) is a municipality of 32,048 people (according to the 2021 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Mesolongiou (). Missolon ...

who participated in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

. Deligiorgis studied law at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

. He began practicing law in 1850, and in the years that followed became the idol of the liberal "golden youth". He was elected for the first time as an MP of Missolonghi in 1859 and openly opposed the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

, which resulted in his being excluded from the Parliament. He was not a proponent of the

Megali Idea The Megali Idea () is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the ...

(Great Idea) and thought that a better solution to the Eastern Question would be to improve the condition of the Greeks living in Ottoman-controlled

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

and

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

by liberalising the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. According to the writer of his biography : ''Epaminondas Deligeorgis belonged to a new generation of liberal politicians (Golden Youth) who contributed decisively to the liberalization of the country. Militant demonstrations, dense columns (in journalistic publications such as "Panhellenion", "Athena", "Nea Genea"), participation in military postures, fiery speeches in parliament were some of the characteristics of this generation of politicians, who embodied the concept of the "nation in arms", i.e. the combination of nationalism and radical liberalism.'' He died in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, aged 50.

References

Sources

* Georg Veloudis: "Delijeorjis, Epaminondas", in ''Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte Südosteuropas''. Vol. 1. Munich 1974, pp. 385–387. 1829 births 1879 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Greece 19th-century Greek lawyers National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Foreign ministers of Greece Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament Greek MPs 1862–1864 {{greece-politician-stub People from Tripoli, Greece Greek Freemasons