Emmanouil Tsouderos (, also transliterated as ''Emmanuel Tsouderos''; 19 July 1882 – 10 February 1956) was a Greek politician and statesman who served as the internationally recognized

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 ...

from 1941 to 1944 as head of the Greek government-in-exile during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He resigned in 1944, following a mutiny in the exiled armed forces.

Early life and studies

Emmanuel Tsouderos was born in 1882 in

Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

(then part of 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 ...

). He studied law at

Athens University 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 ...

, and economics in Paris and London.

Career in politics

He returned to Crete aged 24, and was elected Member of Parliament of the Cretan Legislature (1906–1912), when Crete had autonomous status under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and was under the protection of Russia, Britain, France and Italy. After the union of Crete with Greece in December 1913, he was elected to the

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

, and served as Minister of Transportation under

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 ...

, and Minister of Finances under Themistoklis Sophoulis. In 1928, when the Central Bank of Greece was established, Tsouderos was appointed its first vice-Governor, and in 1931 its Governor.Bank of Greece

Prime minister

Following the suicide of Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis on 18 April 1941, amidst the

German invasion of Greece The German invasion of Greece or Operation Marita (), were the attacks on Kingdom of Greece, Greece by Kingdom of Italy, Italy and Nazi Germany, Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Gr ...

, King

George II of Greece George II (; 19 July ld Style and New Style dates, Old Style: 7 July1890 – 1 April 1947) was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947. The eldest son of King ...

sought for his successor. Several names, such as Konstantinos Kotzias, the former dictator General Theodoros Pangalos, and the Venizelist general Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian were discussed, but either rejected or turned down the offer. As the evacuation of the Greek government to Crete was being prepared, Tsouderos, as a Venizelist and Cretan, as well as a known Anglophile, emerged as a prominent choice for the post during the 20th. On the next day, after attending a

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...

in which the spirit of Venizelos urged him to accept, Tsouderos accepted and was sworn in as Prime Minister. On the 20th, the Greek army in Epirus unilaterally surrendered to the Germans, and on the morning of the 23rd, the Greek government left Athens. Tsouderos fled again during the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

. He went to the Middle East and later

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Tsouderos headed the Greek government in exile from 29 April 1941 until 13 April 1944. Although he was the internationally recognized as the Prime Minister of Greece (in opposition to the numerous prime ministers who were the figureheads of the collaborationist Hellenic State), in practice he had little influence inside Greece's borders. This government was initially located in London, but subsequently moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. In Spring of 1944, the Greek Army and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

mutinied. Among their demands was resignation of the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

and Tsouderos. He served in the subsequent government in exile under Sofoklis Venizelos.

Post-War Greece

Following the Greek Civil War, Tsouderos would go on to lead the Democratic Progressive Party (''Dimokratikon Proodefitikon Komma)''. During the 1950 Election, Tsouderos formed a coalition government with Nikolaos Plastiras' Progressive Liberal Center Party (''Komma Proodefitkon Fileleftheron Kentrou)'', to form the National Progressive Center Union (''Ethniki Proodetiki Enosis Kentrou)'' After the end of World War II Tsouderos served in different capacities, until his death at the age of 73 in Nervi,

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy on 10 February 1956.

Personal life

He was married and had three children: * Ioannes (John) Tsouderos (1923–1997) – Greek Politician in the 1960s and 1970s * Athena Tsouderos * Virginia Tsouderos (1924–2018) – Served as Secretary of the Foreign Minister of Greece (Aug. 1991 – Oct. 1993)

Awards

Order of George I The Royal Order of George I () is a Greek Order (distinction), order instituted by King Constantine I of Greece, Constantine I in 1915. Since the monarchy's abolition in 1973, it has been considered a dynastic order of the former Greek royal fami ...

, ''1941''

References

Sources

* *See Marguarita Dritsas, Hellenic Open University, for her definitive biography of Tsourderos, based on his personal papers in the Bank of Greece Archives. ritsas, Margarita. (2012). Emmanuel Tsouderos, 1882–1956, Central Banker and Politician. Bank of Greece Publications

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsouderos, Emmanouil 1882 births 1956 deaths People from Rethymno People from Ottoman Crete Liberal Party (Greece) politicians National Progressive Centre Union politicians Greek Rally politicians Foreign ministers of Greece Finance ministers of Greece Ministers of transport and communications of Greece Greek MPs 1920–1922 Greek MPs 1924–1925 Greek MPs 1950–1951 Greek MPs 1952–1956 Governors of the Bank of Greece Politicians from Crete 20th-century prime ministers of Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Greek people of World War II