Mihail Melas (; 1833 – 17 June 1897) 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 ...

politician and merchant, who served as

Mayor of Athens The mayor of Athens is the head of Athens#municipality of Athens, Athens. The current mayor is Haris Doukas who assumed office on 1 January 2024. Kingdom of Greece (1832–1924) Second Hellenic Republic (1924–1935) Kingdom of Greece (1935 ...

from 1 October 1891 until 31 October 1894.

Biography

He was born in

Syros Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...

, the son of Georgios Melas, a member of the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria () or Society of Friends () was a secret political and revolutionary organization founded in 1814 in Odesa, Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule in Ottoman Greece, Greece and establish an Independenc ...

and the scion of a distinguished

Epirote Epirus () is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë and the Acroceraunian Mountains in ...

family. He studied law in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and became involved with commerce at an early age, importing Russian wheat to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

. From these activities he amassed a large fortune. In 1874, Melas settled permanently in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where he soon achieved a distinguished place among Athenian high society. He played a crucial role in the foundation of the Athens Club in 1875, the Greek capital's oldest and most exclusive

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

, and served as its president in 1882–1886 and 1888–1897. In 1890, he was elected to 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

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

. He became mayor of Athens in 1891, holding the office until 1894, after an unsuccessful first attempt in 1883, when he lost to

Dimitrios Soutsos Dimitrios Soutzos () was the mayor of Athens between 1879 and 1887. Biography

He was the son of Skarlatos Soutzos, a descendant of the distinguished Phanariot Soutzos family who became a Major General in the Greek Army, and of Elpis Kantakou ...

. Melas also served in the founding board of the Hellenic Red Cross, and as chairman of the

Ethniki Etaireia The Ethniki Etaireia () was a secret Greek nationalism, Greek nationalistic organization created in November 1894, by a number of young nationalist officers, advocates of the ''Megali Idea''. Its aim was to revive the morale of the country and prep ...

, a secret nationalist society, which played a major role in the outbreak of the disastrous

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War (), was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and the O ...

. Melas is also notable as one of the first Athenians to build a house in

Kifissia Kifisia or Kifissia (also Kephisia or Cephissia; , ) is a municipality and one of the most affluent northern suburbs in the Athens agglomeration, Attica, Greece, mainly accessed via Kifissias Avenue, running all the way from central Athens up to ...

, then a suburban summer resort for the capital's wealthy families. He was also an avid art collector, and during his stay in Marseilles, he chaired the local French Cultural Club for several years. In 1886–1888, he served as president of the '' Filekpaideftiki Etaireia'' ("Learned Society"), a charitable educational society founded in 1836.

Family

He was married with Eleni Voutsina and had seven children: Maria, wife of Ektoras Romanos, chamberlain of

Prince Nicholas of Greece Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (, romanized: ''Nikólaos''; 22 January 1872 – 8 February 1938), of the Glücksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg, was the fourth child and third son of King George I of Greece, and of Queen Olga. He ...

;

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

, wife of the landowner Apostolos Papadopoulos; Georgios (1866–1931) a judge and private secretary of King

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

; Pavlos (1870–1904), an

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 and hero of the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. From 1904 to 1908 the conflict was p ...

;

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

(1872–1905), a lawyer and politician; Konstantinos Melas (1874–1953), a

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 ...

officer and politician; and

Vassilios Vassilios or Vassileios, also transliterated Vasileios, Vasilios, Vassilis or Vasilis (), is a Greek given name, the origin of Basil. In ancient/medieval/Byzantine context, it is also transliterated as Basileios. It is directly descended from the wo ...

(1879–1956), a general and also president of the Athens Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melas, Michail 1833 births 1897 deaths Mayors of Athens Greek MPs 1890–1892 People from Syros Greek businesspeople