Georgios Modis ( el, Γεώργιος Μόδης; 14 May 1887 – 18 June 1975) 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 ...

jurist, politician, writer and participant in the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...

Biography

Georgios Modis was born in 1887 in Monastir (modern

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba (North Macedonia), Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of th ...

). He graduated from the gymnasium of Monastir in 1906 and immediately joined the guerrilla group of the

Cretan Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

Georgios Volanis who was active in the area of

Mariovo Mariovo ( mk, Мариово) is a historic region in the southern part of North Macedonia, with an area of 1,390 square km and an elevation 1,050 m, situated among mountains. Geography Mountains * Selečka (highest peak - ''Visoka'' 1,471 m) ...

. He participated in many fights with Bulgarian

komitadji Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee mem ...

s and

Ottoman Ottoman is the Turkish spelling of the Arabic masculine given name Uthman ( ar, عُثْمان, ‘uthmān). It may refer to: Governments and dynasties * Ottoman Caliphate, an Islamic caliphate from 1517 to 1924 * Ottoman Empire, in existence fro ...

troops and was wounded in a battle with the Ottoman army in Besitsa, near

. After his injury he abandoned the armed struggle and the Internal Organisation of Monastir appointed him secretary in the Metropolis of Moglena and Florina in 1909, where he served for a short time. Then, he returned to Monastir and was a reporter in the local newspaper ''Fos'' ("Light") that was published by the Political Club of Monastir. After the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, when Florina became part of Greece, he studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

in 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 ...

and commerce in the academy of Othon Rousopoulos. He was elected continually for many years as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for the

Florina Prefecture Florina ( el, Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Φλώρινας, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Flórinas'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, Greece. ...

and served as Prefect of Florina. During the period 1932–33 he assumed the position of Governor-General of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. During the Axis occupation of Greece, he was arrested by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and was imprisoned in the Pavlou Mela barracks 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 Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. After his release, he fled to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

where he joined the

Greek government in exile The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based in Cairo, Egypt, and hence it is also referr ...

. In October 1944 he returned to Greece and was appointed by

Georgios Papandreou Georgios Papandreou ( ''Geórgios Papandréou''; 13 February 1888 – 1 November 1968) was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as prime minister of Greece (1944–1945, 1963, 1964–1 ...

, as

Governor-General of Macedonia The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Υπουργείο Μακεδονίας και Θράκης, ΥΜΑΘ) is a former ministry of Greece. Responsible for the regions of Macedonia and Thrace, since 2015 it has been demoted to the level o ...

. In 1950 he assumed the position of

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 ...

and in 1951 Minister of Education. He was also an active author, his main works being: "Μακεδονικές Ιστορίες" (Macedonian Stories) and "Αγώνες στη Μακεδονία" (Struggles in Macedonia) which was left unfinished due to his death on 18 June 1975. Modis was a member of the

Society for Macedonian Studies The Society for Macedonian Studies ( el, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, Etaireia Makedonikon Spoudon) was founded on April 29, 1939, in Thessaloniki, Greece.Thorsten Kruse, Hubert Faustmann, Sabine Rogge. The purpose of ...

, and organised many committees of

fighters in order to raise statues to prominent protagonists of the Struggle. He also served as president of the committee for the construction of statues of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, Philip and

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

. During the

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

he was forced by the regime to resign from the presidency of the committee. In 2011, a bust of Modis was erected in the town square of Florina at the expense of the Association of Monastiriots of Florina and Environs "Elpis".Διαδικτυακές πύλες, Δήμος Φλώρινας, Πρόγραμμα Χριστουγεννιάτικων εκδηλώσεων στο "Ξύλινο χωριό", Φωτιές 2011 του δήμου Φλώρινας
/ref> He is the nephew of

Theodoros Modis Theodoros Modis (Greek: Θεόδωρος Μόδης) was a Greek lumber merchant and scholar from Monastiri (today's Bitola, in North Macedonia). He was among those who helped the founders of the Revolutionary Internal Organization in its form ...

and the uncle of

Theodore Modis Theodore Modis (born August 11, 1943) is a strategic business analyst, futurist, physicist, and international consultant. He specializes in applying fundamental scientific concepts to predicting social phenomena. In particular, he uses the law o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modis, Georgios 1887 births 1975 deaths Greek journalists Greek writers Ministers of the Interior of Greece Liberal Party (Greece) politicians Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle People from Bitola Governors-General of Macedonia Members of the Hellenic Parliament Governors-General of Epirus Greek prisoners and detainees Greek people of World War II National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni 20th-century journalists Greek people from the Ottoman Empire