Petros Garoufalias (, 1901 – September 17, 1984) 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 businessman, and President of the Fix Beer Company. He was a major financial backer of Prime Minister

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 the prime minister of Greece (1944–1945, 1963, 1964 ...

, under whom he served as Minister of Defense. However, he was heavily involved in the events known as the "

Iouliana ''Iouliana'' (, "July events"), also ''Apostasia'' (, "Apostasy") or the Royal Coup ( ''To Vasiliko Praxikopima''), are terms used to describe the political crisis in Greece centered on the resignation, on 15 July 1965, of Prime Minister Georgios ...

" of 1965, which led to the fall of 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 ...

government.

Life

Born in Arta in 1901, Garoufalias came from a prominent family of the

Arta region Arta Region (, ) is one of the six regions of Djibouti. It was officially created in 2003 by the regrouping of sub-prefectures of the regions of Dikhil and Djibouti. It is situated in the south-central of the country, bordering the Tadjoura Regio ...

; his ancestor Nikolaos Garoufalias was a member of

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 had fought in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

in the 1820s. His father, Evangelos Garoufalias, had served as Mayor of Arta and as Member of Parliament. Garoufalias graduated from the Law School of

Athens University 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 ...

and earned post-graduate degrees in Commercial Law and Economics in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

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 ...

.Τα Νέα, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 1984 He served as a Member of Parliament for

Arta Prefecture Arta, ARTA, or Artà may refer to: Places Djibouti * Arta, Djibouti, a regional capital city in southeastern Djibouti * Arta Mountains, a mountain range in Djibouti * Arta Region, Djibouti Greece * Arta, Greece, a regional capital city in north ...

, and was closely associated with

. With Papandreou's help, Garoufalias was named Minister of Public Order, Minister of the Interior and Deputy Minister of National Economy (Coordination) in the centrist governments of 1950–52, under Prime Ministers

Nikolaos Plastiras Nikolaos Plastiras (; 4 November 1883 – 26 July 1953) was a Greek general and politician, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" d ...

and

Sophoklis Venizelos Sofoklis Venizelos (; 3 November 1894 – 7 February 1964) was a Greeks, Greek politician who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece: in 1944 (in exile), 1950 and 1950–1951. Life and career Venizelos was born on 3 November 1894 in Ch ...

(Papandreou himself was Deputy Prime Minister). He married Marianthi Fix, widow of industrialist Ioannis Fix, and thus inherited the Fix Beer Company. George Papandreou was

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

at the wedding. Garoufalias was named Greek Minister of Defense in the third Papandreou government, from February 1964 to July 1965. He clashed with the Prime Minister's son,

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 ...

(also a minister in the government) over the control of the Greek military; Garoufalias took the side of the King in the events known as the "

of 1965", which contributed to the downfall of the government, a deep political crisis and, eventually, to the imposition of the dictatorial

Regime of the Colonels In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

. In his 1982 book "Greece and Cyprus: Tragic Mistakes, Lost Opportunities, February 19, 1964July 15, 1965", Garoufalias claimed that 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 ...

division that was secretly dispatched to

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in 1964 was his idea, an opinion vociferously rejected by

, who maintained that Garoufalias's role on Cyprus was very limited, and that he merely followed orders, without even being invited to the most important meetings.Andreas Papandreou, Democracy at Gunpoint: The Greek Front, σελίδες 100-101, London: Andre Deutsch, 1971 Garoufalias died on September 17, 1984, aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garoufalias, Petros 1901 births 1984 deaths Greek MPs 1946–1950 Government ministers of Greece People from Arta, Greece Ministers of national defence of Greece Ministers of the interior of Greece Ministers of public order of Greece Greek MPs 1950–1951 Greek MPs 1958–1961 Greek MPs 1961–1963 Greek MPs 1963–1964 Greek MPs 1964–1967 20th-century Greek businesspeople Centre Union politicians