Pavlos Kountouriotis
Pavlos Kountouriotis was a Greek admiral who served during the Balkan Wars, was regent of Greece, and the first president of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times as head of the Greek state, the most times in the history of the seat.
Early life
Pavlos Kountouriotis was born on the island of Hydra to Theodoros Kountouriotis, Consul and Member of the Greek Parliament and Loukia Negreponte. From his father's side he descended from the Kountouriotis, an Arvanite Hydriot family originally from the village of Kountoura, in the Megarid. Pavlos used Arvanitika frequently as well, and his personal secretary wrote about him that whenever he traveled to Hydra he preferred to use only Arvanitika. He was the grandson of Georgios, a shipowner who like many members of his family, participated in the Greek War of Independence and served as Prime Minister of Greece under King Otto. From his mother's side he was descended from the Negreponte family, a prominent family from Chios and was great-grandson of Constantine Hangerli, Prince of Wallachia. He was the second of nine children, including. Little is known of Pavlos' childhood. In 1875, following his family's long-standing naval tradition, he joined the Royal Hellenic Navy, presumably in the rank of Ensign.Naval service
First achievements
In 1886, he took part in the naval operations at Preveza as a lieutenant. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, serving as lieutenant commander he commanded the ship Alfeios. His ship took part in at least two landings of Greek troops on the island of Crete in support of the Cretan Revolt.In 1900, Kountouriotis, as the commanding officer of the three-masted cruiser Navarchos Miaoulis, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and brought the flag of the Hellenic Navy to the New World for the very first time. His orders were to present the flag of the Hellenic Navy to the 60,000 Greeks living in the U.S., but also to be the first exploratory mission of independent Greece. William McKinley, the President of the United States, invited Kountouriotis to the White House.
Kountouriotis served as an aide-de-camp to King George I from 1908 until 1911, receiving the rank of Captain in 1909. In June 1911, Kountouriotis was sent to Britain, to take control of the newly-commissioned [Greek cruiser Georgios Kountouriotis|Georgios Averof|Georgios Averof], following the "blue cheese mutiny". As he was highly esteemed, he quickly reimposed discipline and set sail for Greece.
Balkan Wars
On 16 April 1912 he was appointed Chief of the Navy General Staff until 16 September, when he was appointed of the Aegean Fleet, in view of the worsening situation in the Balkans, and the imminent outbreak of the First Balkan War.Kountouriotis played a crucial role in the Greek government's decision to enter the war. Partly because the Greek fleet had not yet completed its modernization programme, and in view of the disaster of 1897, the Greek leadership remained ambivalent about Greece's prospects. Kountouriotis weighed in decisively in these discussions, proclaiming his confidence that even with the existing fleet, victory could be achieved, thanks to superior personnel. His reply to Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos became famous:
During the Balkan Wars, with his flagship, Georgios Averof, he led the Greek Navy to major victories against the Turkish fleet in December 1912 and in January 1913, bringing most of the Aegean islands under Greek control. His victories, due in large part to his daring but successful tactics, earned him the status of a national hero. He was promoted to vice admiral for "exceptional war service", the first Greek career officer since Konstantinos Kanaris to reach the rank.