Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian

Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian
Mazarakis-Ainian (left) with other Greek officials at the garden of the Greek Consulate-General in Thessaloniki, during the Macedonian Struggle
Born	1874 Athens
Died	1943 Athens
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece Second Hellenic Republic
Service/branch	Hellenic Army
Years of service	1890–1920 1922–1937
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff
Wars	Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars, Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922
Awards	Medal of Milos Obilić in Gold
Relations	Lt. Gen. Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian (brother)
Other work	President of the Academy of Athens Minister for Military Affairs Minister for National Education Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Aviation

Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, 1874–1943) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general. He served thrice as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, occupied various important ministerial positions and became President of the Academy of Athens.

Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian was born in Athens in 1874. He entered the Hellenic Army Academy in 1890 and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Artillery on 30 June 1895. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 commanding an artillery battery, and served for three years in the newly founded Geographical Service. In 1905, during the Greek Struggle for Macedonia against the Bulgarian-sponsored Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), he was attached to the Greek Consulate-General in Thessaloniki under the cover name Ioannidis. He served there for three and a half years, until the end of the Struggle in 1908. In 1906 he was promoted to lieutenant.

After returning from Macedonia, he came first in a contest for further studies in the École Supérieure de Guerre in France. In the Balkan Wars he served as a staff officer in the 7th Infantry Division. In 1914 he was promoted to Major and became Chief of Staff of the 5th Infantry Division at Drama. In September 1916 he joined the Venizelist Movement of National Defence in Thessaloniki. Promoted to lieutenant colonel and full colonel, he served in various General Staff departments during World War I. He then accompanied Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos as a military expert to the Paris Peace Conference, and prepared ethnological and military studies to support the Greek claims.