Panagiotis Demestichas (, 6 July 1885 (O.S.) – 14 November 1960) was an officer of the

Greek Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed F ...

who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, leading an

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

in 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 ...

. He also briefly served as

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 ...

in the first

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...

government under general

Georgios Tsolakoglou Georgios Tsolakoglou (; April 1886 – 22 May 1948) was a Greek army officer who headed the government of Greece from 1941 to 1942, in the early phase of the country's occupation by Axis powers during World War II. An officer of the Hellenic Ar ...

during the

Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

Life

Panagiotis Demestichas was born on 6 July 1885 (O.S.), in the village of Kotrona near

Gytheio Gytheio ( ) or Gythio, also the ancient Gythium or Gytheion (), is a town on the eastern shore of the Mani Peninsula, and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is par ...

, to Petros Demestichas and his wife Venetia. After completing high school at Gytheio in 1904, he entered the faculty of Law of the

University of Athens 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 ...

, but left it in 1905 to join the

as a volunteer, with the rank of Corporal. He later entered the NCO School, from which he graduated on 7 July 1912 (O.S.) as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant. He participated in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

of 1912–13, rising to company commander by the end of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

, a position he held throughout the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

as well. After Greece's entry in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he fought in the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germa ...

as a staff officer of 13th Infantry Division, being promoted to Major in 1918. In 1919 he participated with the 13th Division in the

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War The Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions that began in 1918. The initial impetus behind the interventions was to secure munitions and supply depots from falling into the German ...

, and then went on to fight in the

Asia Minor Campaign Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, where he was transferred to the 5th Infantry Division. In 1922, after the Greek retreat from Asia Minor, he became a staff officer in the General Headquarters. He was promoted to Colonel in 1925, received his degree in law in 1928, and became a Major General in 1934. In 1934–39 he served as Deputy Chief of the

Hellenic Army General Staff The Hellenic Army General Staff () is the general staff of the Hellenic Army, the terrestrial component of the Greek Armed Forces. It was established in 1904. Since 1950, the HAGS is subordinated to the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. T ...

and CO of the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

and 9th Infantry Divisions, as well as a stint as Head of the King's Military Household. In August 1940 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and left the 9th Division to take command of I Army Corps. Following the outbreak of the

on 28 October, he led the Corps in battle until 11 December, when he was transferred to command V Army Corps until 6 March 1941, when he returned to I Corps. With 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 ...

a month later and the capitulation of the Greek Army, he became a member of the first

government under Lt. General

, serving as

until 20 September 1941. Following the liberation of the country in 1944, he was tried by a court-martial, and dismissed from the Army in 1946. He died on 14 November 1960. He was married and had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demestichas, Panagiotis 1885 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Greek politicians Greek collaborators with Nazi Germany Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of World War I Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek people of World War II Hellenic Army generals of World War II Ministers of the interior of Greece People from East Mani People who were court-martialed People of the Greco-Italian War