Ioannis Charalambopoulos (; 10 February 1919 – 16 October 2014) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer (

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

of the Engineering Corps) and socialist politician who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

and Minister of National Defence of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Early life and political career

Charalambopoulos was born in 1919 in Psari,

Oichalia, Messenia Oichalia () is a village and a municipality in Messenia, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the north ...

to a military family. He studied at the

Hellenic Army Academy The Hellenic Army Academy (, ΣΣΕ), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in Greece. It was founded in 1828 in Nafplio by Ioa ...

and completed his studies with a scholarship at Woolwich Polytechnic after

World War II 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 ...

. During the war, he served as the commander of an infantry unit during the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

and later in the

Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected land, naval, and air campaigns fought for control of the Med ...

. He left the army in 1963 with the rank of Colonel and became a politician in the

Center Union The Centre Union () was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40 History The Centre Union was a political party in Greece in the 1960s which held office from 1963 to 1965 and wa ...

, being elected to Parliament representing

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...

in the 1963 and 1964 elections. During the

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

, Charalambopoulos founded the '' Democratic National Resistance Movement'', and spent three years in internal exile for his opposition to the regime. After the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, Charalambopoulos became a founding member of the

Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was one of the two major parties in the country, along with New Democracy, its main political r ...

, and was elected to Parliament on its lists in all elections from 1974 to 2000, representing the Athens B constituency. After the accession of Greece to the EEC on 1 January 1981, he became a provisional member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

representing Greece until the country could hold its first European Parliament elections in October. On 21 October 1981 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first cabinet of

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek academic and economist who founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and served three terms as Prime minister of Greece, prime minister of Third Hellenic Repu ...

and served in the position until 26 July 1985. He was then appointed

Deputy Prime Minister of Greece The Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (, "Vice-President of the Government"; older form: Αντιπρόεδρος του Υπουργικού Συμβουλίου, "Vice-President of the Ministerial Council") is the second most senior member o ...

during Papandreou's second term until 18 November 1988, in addition receiving the portfolio of National Defence on 25 April 1986 which he held until 2 July 1989. Charalambopoulos died on 16 October 2014, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charalambopoulos, Ioannis 1919 births 2014 deaths People from Oichalia, Messenia Centre Union politicians PASOK politicians Deputy prime ministers of Greece Foreign ministers of Greece Ministers of national defence of Greece Greek MPs 1963–1964 Greek MPs 1964–1967 Greek MPs 1974–1977 Greek MPs 1977–1981 Greek MPs 1981–1985 Greek MPs 1985–1989 Greek MPs 1989 (June–November) Greek MPs 1989–1990 Greek MPs 1990–1993 Greek MPs 1993–1996 Greek MPs 1996–2000 Greek MPs 2000–2004 PASOK MEPs MEPs for Greece 1981–1984 Greek colonels Hellenic Army officers Greek military personnel of World War II Members of the Panhellenic Liberation Movement Resistance to the Greek junta