Sotirios Sotiropoulos ( el, Σωτήριος Σωτηρόπουλος;

Nafplio Nafplio ( ell, Ναύπλιο) is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece and it is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important touristic destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in th ...

, 1831 –

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, 1898) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

economist and politician who briefly served as

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

Biography

Sotiropoulos was born in

in 1831. He went to

to study law at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, but was forced to interrupt his studies due to illness. Instead he turned to his other passion, Economics. In 1853 he was accepted as a tax inspector in the Ministry of Finances, and served in this capacity in various provincial towns. His rise was quick: by 1856 he was department head and soon after general secretary of the Customs Department. From this position he reformed the Customs service and wrote a new set of regulations for it, and suggested other reforms such as the abolition of the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

. For his services, King Otto awarded him the Silver Cross of the

Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer ( el, Τάγμα του Σωτήρος, translit=Tágma tou Sotíros), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the ...

. Following the ousting of Otto in 1862, Sotiropoulos entered politics, and was elected as a representative for Triphylia in the II National Assembly of 1862–64. He served as Finance Minister in the 1864–65 Konstantinos Kanaris cabinet, and was then nominated for president of the

Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those ins ...

, but refused the post and instead focused on his parliamentary career: he was almost repeatedly re-elected from 1865 to 1895. A supporter of

Alexandros Koumoundouros Alexandros Koumoundouros ( el, Αλέξανδρος Κουμουνδούρος, 4 February 1815 – 26 February 1883) was a Greek politician. Born in Kampos, on the Messenian side of the Mani Peninsula, he was the son of Spyridon-Galanis Koumound ...

, after the latter's death in 1883 he served as an independent, criticizing both

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis ( el, Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of c ...

and Theodoros Deligiannis, the two dominant and rival figures of Greek politics after Koumoundouros' death. In the 1887 elections he even led his own group of nine MPs. During this time, he was elected twice

Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament The President of the Hellenic Parliament ( el, Πρόεδρος της Βουλής των Ελλήνων) is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Greece. The president's term coincides with the term of the assembly, and is chosen by a vot ...

, in 1878–79 and 1879–80, and served as Finance Minister in virtually all of Koumoundouros' cabinets (1865, 1870–71, 1875–76, 1880–82) as well as Justice Minister in 1880. His tenure in the Finance Ministry was marked by his personal integrity, a fight against corruption and mismanagement, and an effort to reduce spending and increase revenue. In May 1893, after the resignation of Trikoupis due to the country's impending default, Sotiropoulos was tapped by King George I to form a government as Prime Minister in co-operation with Dimitrios Rallis. Sotiropoulos held the Finance Ministry as well in this cabinet, but it proved shot-lived as he was forced to resign a few months later. Sotiropoulos died in Athens in 1898.

Writings

In 1866, Sotiropoulos was kidnapped and held by brigands for 36 days before he was ransomed for 60,000

drachma The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fr ...

s. He recounted his time with the brigands in his book ''Τριάκοντα εξ ημερών αιχμαλωσία και διαβίωσις μετά των ληστών'' ("''Thirty-six days captivity and life with the brigands''"), translated into English as ''The Brigands of the Morea: A Narrative of the Captivity of Mr. S. Soteropoulos'' (Saunders, Otley, and Company, 1868).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sotiropoulos, Sotirios 1831 births 1898 deaths 19th-century prime ministers of Greece 19th-century Greek economists Finance ministers of Greece Justice ministers of Greece Prime Ministers of Greece People from Nafplion Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament Greek MPs 1862–1864 Greek MPs 1879–1881