Theodoros Pangalos (general)
| Theodoros Pangalos | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of Greece | |
|
In office 19 July 1926 – 22 August 1926 |
|
| Prime Minister | Athanasios Eftaxias |
| Preceded by | Pavlos Kountouriotis |
| Succeeded by | Pavlos Kountouriotis |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
|
In office 26 June 1925 – 19 July 1926 |
|
| Preceded by | Andreas Michalakopoulos |
| Succeeded by | Athanasios Eftaxias |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 11, 1878 Salamis, Greece |
| Died | February 26, 1952 (aged 74) Athens, Greece |
| Political party | Independent (Venizelist) |
| Spouse(s) | Arianna Slias-Sachtouris (m. 1901; his d. 1952) |
| Children | Theseus Dimitris Georgios Amalia |
| Alma mater | Hellenic Military Academy |
| Profession | Military officer |
| Religion | Greek Orthodoxy |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Greece Second Hellenic Republic
|
| Service/branch | Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1900–1926 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant General
|
| Battles/wars |
World War I Asia Minor Campaign |
Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos (Greek: Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος) (11 January 1878 – 26 February 1952) was a Greek soldier, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic. In June 1925 Pangalos staged a bloodless coup, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named him Prime Minister. As a "constitutional dictator" he ruled the country until his overthrow in August 1926. From April 1926 until his deposition, he also occupied the office of President of the Republic.
Pangalos withdrew from public life for a while, but remained active in the Venizelist military circles. During the Axis Occupation of Greece, Pangalos and military officers close to him played a role in the establishment of the Security Battalions and was widely suspected of collaboration with the Germans. Cleared by a postwar court, he ran unsuccessfully for political office and died in 1952.
Pangalos was born on the island of Salamis on 11/23 January 1878. His mother was descendant of the local Arvanite fighter of the Greek Revolution, Giannakis Meletis (Hatzimeletis), while his paternal side came from an aristocratic family of Kea island.
He graduated from the Greek Army Academy on 16/29 July 1900 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant, and continued his studies in Paris, France.
During the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 he served as a staff officer in the 6th Infantry Division. In 1916 he joined Eleftherios Venizelos' Provisional Government of National Defence against King Constantine I, and was tasked with recruiting the 9th Cretan Regiment for the new government. He did not have a chance to lead it to battle though, because when King Constantine abdicated and Venizelos took over the governance of all of Greece in June 1917, he was appointed chief of the personnel department in the Ministry of Military Affairs. In early 1918 he went to the front as Chief of Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division in the Strymon sector of the Macedonian Front. In late 1918 he was appointed chief of staff of the General Headquarters, holding the post until the electoral victory of the pro-royalist and anti-Venizelist United Opposition in November 1920, when he was dismissed from the army.
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