Konstantinos I. Logothetopoulos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Ι. Λογοθετόπουλος; 1 August 1878 – 6 July 1961) was a distinguished

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 ...

medical doctor who became Prime Minister of Greece, directing the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II.

Early life

Logothetopoulos was born in

Nafplion 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 the ...

in 1878.

Education and Career

Logothetopoulos studied medicine in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and remained in the German Empire, practicing and teaching medicine until 1910, at which time he relocated to

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

. In Greece, he founded a private clinic and served in both the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

(1912–1913) and the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

(1913) as a doctor. He was discharged in 1916, resuming private medical practice until 1922 when he was again conscripted during the Greco-Turkish War to serve in the Army Hospital of Athens. After the end of the war in 1922, Logothetopoulos became professor of

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined a ...

at the

National and Kapodistrian 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 ...

. Eventually he became Dean of the University. During his tenure at the university, he taught and assisted many young doctors in their studies including future politician Grigoris Lambrakis. When Greece capitulated to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

after the " Battle of Greece" during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Logothetopoulos, who spoke the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

fluently and was married to the niece of

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered a ...

Wilhelm List, Mazower, Mark (1994) 993 ''Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44'' (2nd Edition). Alexandria Editions, Athens. , p. 45 was appointed Vice President and Minister of Education in the first collaborationist government of Gen. Georgios Tsolakoglou. After Tsolakoglou was removed from office, he served as Prime Minister between 2 December 1942 and 7 April 1943, when he was replaced by Ioannis Rallis. When the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

left Greece in 1944, Logothetopoulos went with them to Nazi Germany. Eventually he was captured by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

which surrendered him to Greek authorities in 1946. He was tried and convicted of collaborating with the enemy and initially sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed te ...

, but was released in 1951.

Death

Logothetopoulos died in Athens on 6 July 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Logothetopoulos, Konstantinos 1878 births 1961 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Greece Prime Ministers of Greece Greek collaborators with Nazi Germany Greek fascists Fascist rulers Greek people of World War II World War II political leaders People convicted of treason against Greece Greek prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Greek people who died in prison custody Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Greece Prisoners who died in Greek detention Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens People from Nafplion 1942 in Greece 1943 in Greece Greek anti-communists Fascism in Greece Greek physicians