Petros Protopapadakis


Petros Protopapadakis was a politician and Prime [Minister of Greece] from May to September 1922.

Life and work

Born in 1860 in Apeiranthos, Naxos, Protopapadakis studied mathematics and engineering in Paris but was keenly interested in politics. He was a professor at the Scholi Evelpidon, the military academy of Greece.
Protopadakis was elected to the Hellenic Parliament in 1902 as a member of the conservative Nationalist Party. He later joined the People's Party and served as Minister of Economy and later, in the government of Dimitrios Gounaris, he was the Justice Minister. In 1922, during the ill-fated Greco-Turkish War, Protopapadakis was asked to form a government by King Constantine when Gounaris resigned after almost losing a vote of confidence. Protopapadakis became Prime Minister and Gounaris the Justice Minister. Protopapadakis remained in his position for a little more than 3 months, as he was overthrown by a military coup d'état.

Death

Protopapadakis was executed in the Trial of the Six proceedings at Goudi in November 1922, along with the other five most senior members of his government. In 2010, the Supreme Court of Greece overturned convictions of Protopapadakis and other defendants.