Petros Manos

Petros Manos was a Greek military officer and fencer. A colonel in Hellenic Army, he also competed in fencing at the 1912 Summer Olympics. He was the father of Aspasia Manos, wife of King Alexander of Greece.

Early life and ancestry

Petros Manos was born in Athens in 1871, as the youngest son of Major general Thrasyvoulos Manos, a member of an old, prominent Phanariote Manos family, and his wife, Roxane Mavromichalis, a member of another old and distinguished Greek family, the Mavromichalis family of Mani.

He entered the Hellenic Army Academy and graduated in 1892. He fought in the Cretan uprisings of 1896–1897, and participated in the Macedonian Struggle, leading an armed band in 1904–1907 under the nom de guerre Kapetan Vergos. A royalist during the National Schism, as Aide-de-camp to Constantine I, he followed the King into exile in Switzerland in 1917, and died there on 4 April 1918.

From his first marriage in Athens on 15 January 1895 with Maria Argyropoulos, daughter of Jacob Argyropoulos and Aspasia Petrakis, Petros is father of Princess Aspasia of Greece and Denmark who married King Alexander of Greece and had child who was Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, who later married King Peter II of Yugoslavia and also had one child, Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia. From this marriage he also had one daughter, Roxanne, who became wife of an athlete and later industrialist Christos Zalokostas.

After divorcing his first wife, he contracted second marriage with Sophie Tombazis, daughter of Alexandros Tombazis and his cousin Princess Maria Mavrocordato. His second wife Sophie was direct
patrilineal descendant of Iakovos Tombazis, who was first Admiral of the Hellenic Navy during the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. With her he had one daughter Rallou, a choreographer, modern dancer and dance teacher, who was married to a prominent Greek architect Pavlos Mylonas.

Petros Manos was also a professional fencer.
As a member of Greek Olympic team he competed in the individual and team épée events at the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, Sweden.

Petros Manos died in Switzerland, on 4 April 1918, aged 46.