Ioannis (Yianis) Passalidis ( el, Ιωάννης Πασαλίδης; 1886–1968) was a prominent member of the Greek Left and founder of the

United Democratic Left The United Democratic Left (, ''Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá'' (EDA)) was a left-wing political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74. Foundation The party was founded in July 1951 by prominent center-left ...

party. He was born in the village of Kutaisi, in nowadays

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He studied medicine at the universities of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and Odessa. He graduated in 1910 and settled in the city of

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. In 1913 he travelled in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for postgraduate studies. He then specialised as a surgeon in Odessa, taking the position of the director of the hospital of Sukhumi. After the declaration of independence of

, he was elected a deputy with Noe Zhordania's Georgian Social Democratic Labour Party in the February 1919 general election. In 1922, Passalidis settled in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

and worked as a doctor. In the 1923 general election he was elected for the first time to the

Greek Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

as a republican deputy. In 1941 his party formed an alliance with the National Liberation Front (EAM) and, in 1945, he was elected in the central commission of EAM. In July 1951 he was the one who induced the formation of the

(EDA), which he led until 1967, when the colonels' regime persecuted its members. Passalidis took part in all the Greek legislative elections from

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

as the leader of the United Democratic Left, being among the protagonists of almost all the debates during this period in the parliament. He was prosecuted and placed under house arrest by the 1967 junta. This worsened his health and he died in 1968 in Thessaloniki. He is still remembered fondly among Greek leftists, who still refer to him as "Barbayiannis" (uncle John).

Notes

1886 births 1968 deaths People from Kutaisi politicians from Kutaisi Soviet emigrants to Greece MPs of Thessaloniki United Democratic Left politicians Liberal Democratic Union (Greece) politicians Greek MPs 1924–1925 Greek MPs 1951–1952 Greek MPs 1952–1956 Greek MPs 1956–1958 Greek MPs 1958–1961 Greek MPs 1961–1963 Greek MPs 1964–1967 National Liberation Front (Greece) members Pontic Greeks {{Greece-politician-stub

See also

Notes