Emmanouil Repoulis (, 1863 - 24 May 1924) was a Greek journalist and Member of Parliament. He was elected three times: 1899 , 1905 (both with the party of

Georgios Theotokis Georgios Theotokis (; 8 February 1844 – 12 January 1916) was a Greek politician and Prime Minister of Greece, serving the post four times. He represented the Modernist Party or Neoteristikon Komma (NK). Biography He was the third child of C ...

), 1923 (with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

) and was one of the deputies of the so-called '

Japanese Group The Japanese Group () was an unofficial name for a political grouping in the Hellenic Parliament in 1906–08. Name Although the group had been created in June 1906 after the parliamentary elections of that year, their popular name was given to th ...

' under

Stefanos Dragoumis Stefanos Dragoumis (; 184217 September 1923) was a judge, writer and the Prime Minister of Greece from January to October 1910. He was the father of Ion Dragoumis. Early years Dragoumis was born in Athens. His grandfather, Markos Dragoumis ( ...

. He became deputy leader of the Liberal Party. Appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, Gevernor-General of Macedonia,

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

and

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

Early life

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They are bilingual, traditionally speaking Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded ...

origin, and

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

-speaking at home Emmanouil Repoulis was born in 1863 in

Kranidi Kranidi (, ) is a town and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ermionida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal ...

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese penin ...

. His family, although not particularly well-to-do, belonged to the most prestigious in the area. His father was Pantelis Repoulis (or Liepouris), a sailor, and his mother was Paraskevi, née Lambrou. He was their third child, and he had four brothers and two sisters. He then continued his high school studies in

Nafplio Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

n and Athens. After attending primary and secondary education, he enrolled in the Law School of the University of Athens and engaged in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

. He worked as a

proofreader Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place co ...

, since 1889, in the newspaper ''

Kathimerini ( Greek: Η Καθημερινή, ; ) is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Piraeus, Athens. Its first edition was printed on 15 September 1919. is considered a newspaper of record and the leading right-wing newspape ...

''. After a year, he became the editor-in-chief of the other well-known newspaper, '' Akropolis'' and together with

Vlasis Gavriilidis Vlasis Gavriilidis (; 1848–1920) was a prominent Greek journalist who in 1883 founded the progressive newspaper ''Akropolis (newspaper), Akropolis'' in Athens. He played a significant role in the politics of the day, often supporting the dem ...

they broadened their horizons to the industrial and commercial issues of the country.

Work

Repoulis was the first journalist who criticised through his articles the transactional politics of the day, the 'Old-Party System', the violence of the gendarmes, the militarism, the deviations of the pro-royal officers and in general the problems of the time. Later he also collaborated with the newspapers ''

Estia ''Estia'' () is a Greek national daily broadsheet newspaper published in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1876 as a literary magazine and then in 1894 has been transformed into a newspaper, making it Greece's oldest daily newspaper still in circu ...

'', '' Neon Asty'' and '' Skrip''. He also wrote articles in many magazines, such as ''Ellada'' by S. Potamianos. In 1899, he was elected a member of the

Greek Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme democratic instit ...

for Ermionida. The prime minister at the time,

, assigned him the presentation of the state budget. Repoulis proposed innovative proposals. After his electoral failure in Ermionida in 1903, he was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance. However, he disagreed with the constant interventions in his work and resigned after a short period of time. In 1905, he was again elected a member of parliament, but was almost immediately expelled from the party of Theotokis and joined the so-called '

', which had a reforming program. The reformers, however, do not manage to prevail, despite their militant efforts, and disbanded their group in frustration. Repoulis alone, together with one or two of his other companions, continued to criticise and was active in the movement that led to the Revolution of 1909 . When he approached

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

in 1910, he agreed with his visions for Greece and lent him his support. He became deputy leader of Venizelos'

. After the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, while he held the post

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, he was also appointed as Governor-General of Macedonia. As Minister of the Interior, he introduced the law "On Municipalities and Communities". In 1915 he took over the Ministry of Finance, and from 1917 to 1920, he returned to the Ministry of the Interior. After the assassination attempt against Eleftherios Venizelos on 30 July 1920, riots broke out in Athens and the assassination of prominent anti-Venizelist actors was being plotted. Repoulis, then deputy prime minister, ordered the arrest and imprisonment of all those threatened, while assigning their protection to a strong guard. When the united anti-Venizelist opposition won the November 1920 elections, Repoulis' moderation was blamed by some for the defeat of the Liberals. On 5 November 1920, he left with Venizelos (both self-exiled) for Paris.

Death

In 1923 he was again elected as a Member of Parliament, but this time did not attend Parliament for health reasons. Emmanuel Repoulis died on 24 May 1924, in his hometown of Kranidi, from a heart disease. Ο θάνατος του Εμμ. Ρέπουλη
Μακεδονία, 15 May 1924, ΕΒΕ His contribution to the reforming work of Venizelos was decisive. All bills that became laws of the state, have his own seal. The leader of the Liberals himself designated him as his successor in the leadership of the party.

Bibliography

* Εμμανουήλ Ρέπουλης, «Κείμενα – Επιστολές – Άρθρα – Ομιλίες », Εκδόσεις Δήμου Κρανιδίου, 2001

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Repoulis, Emmanouil 1863 births 1924 deaths Arvanites Finance ministers of Greece Ministers of the interior of Greece Deputy prime ministers of Greece People from Ermionida Greek newspaper editors Greek journalists Liberal Party (Greece) politicians Governors-general of Macedonia Greek MPs 1899–1902 Greek MPs 1905–1906