Alexandros Koumoundouros

Alexandros Koumoundouros (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Κουμουνδούρος, 4 february 1815 – 26 February 1883) was a Greek politician. Born in Kampos, on the Messenian side of the Mani Peninsula, he was the son of Spyridon-Galanis Koumoundouros, the bey of the area during the last period of the administration of the region by the Ottoman Empire.

Alexandros Koumoundouros
Prime Minister of Greece
In office
25 October 1880  15 March 1882
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byCharilaos Trikoupis
Succeeded byCharilaos Trikoupis
In office
7 November 1878  22 March 1880
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byCharilaos Trikoupis
Succeeded byCharilaos Trikoupis
In office
24 September 1877  2 November 1878
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byKonstantinos Kanaris
Succeeded byCharilaos Trikoupis
In office
1 June 1877  7 June 1877
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
Succeeded byConstantine Kanaris
In office
13 December 1876  10 March 1877
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
Succeeded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
In office
27 October 1875  8 December 1876
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byCharilaos Trikoupis
Succeeded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
In office
15 December 1870  9 November 1871
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
Succeeded byThrasivoulos Zaimis
In office
30 December 1866  1 January 1868
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byDimitrios Voulgaris
Succeeded byAristeidis Moraitinis
In office
18 November 1865  25 November 1865
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byDimitrios Voulgaris
Succeeded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
In office
14 March 1865  1 November 1865
MonarchGeorge I
Preceded byBenizelos Rouphos
Succeeded byEpameinondas Deligeorgis
Personal details
Born4 February 1815
Mani, Ottoman Greece
Died26 February 1883(1883-02-26) (aged 68)[1]
Athens, Greece
Political partyNationalist Party
Spouse(s)Aikaterini Konstantinou G. Mavromichali
Efthimia Georgiou Peroti
ChildrenKonstantinos, Maria, Spyridonas, Olga
OccupationLawyer
Signature

He was a political personality famous for his work towards national progress, his patriotism and unselfishness, despite his having been in office during a very unsettled period of Greek history.

Early years

After the Greek War of Independence, he moved to Nafplion where he went to school, then to Athens to study law.

Greek War of Independence

In 1841, he took part in the revolution in Crete despite believing it was a lost cause—the conditions were not right for such an undertaking at that time.

Political career

Koumoundouros’ long career encompassed many facets of political life, including serving in parliament, authoring of legislation, promotion of a democratic regime, restoration of the army, distribution of national farms to landless farmers, and the approval of major construction work (such as the Isthmus of Corinth).

During his 50-year-long period of political involvement he tried to remain neutral, and to avoid confrontation both with the three Great Powers and with the smaller powers of that time. In this period he held various ministerial appointments eighteen times, was twice president of the Greek Parliament and ten times Prime Minister of Greece. Despite often experiencing inimical conditions, including at least three assassination attempts, he still managed to create a firm foundation for democracy in Greece.

Early career

Meanwhile, he was appointed as Public Prosecutor in the Tribunal of Kalamata, but he soon quit this position in order to become a politician. His first political distinction emerged in 1853 when he was elected deputy of the province of Messinia (the province of Kalamàta). Two years later he became President of the Greek Parliament, and the following year Minister of Economics.

He kept the same ministry in the new governments both of 1857 and 1859. After the overthrow of King Othon in 1862 he became Minister of Justice of the temporary government.

The first elections for a proper government after the fall of King Othon took place in 1863 and Koumoundouros remained as Minister of Justice, however, the extremely poor political stability lead to new elections the following year.

In the succeeding government of 1864, Koumoundouros was moved to the Ministry of Religion and Education and later to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Tenure as Prime Minister

On 25 March 1865, he became Prime Minister of Greece for the first time and won the elections of 1866, too. Four years later, he retained the position of the Minister of Army and Internal Affairs, in addition to being Prime Minister. In 1875, Koumoundouros was successful in uniting all other parliamentary parties against Charilaos Trikoupis.[2] In August 1875, he became President of the Parliament once again and in the elections of the same year he was made Prime Minister of the country once more.

Elections took place three times in 1876 and Koumoundouros was victorious in two of them. He also won the elections of 1878.

A bust in Larissa

Koumoundouros’ greatest achievement came in 1881, during his last (tenth) premiership, when after the Congress of Berlin and after diplomatic contacts with the Ottomans, he managed to bring about the annexation of the areas of Thessaly and Arta to the Greek mainland (with the Convention of Constantinople).

Right after this achievement he called for new elections so that representatives of the newly annexed regions could enter Parliament. Despite this concession, the new candidates elected the representative of the opposition party as President of Parliament. As a result, Koumoundouros resigned on 3 March 1882. He died some months later on 26 February 1883, in his home on Ludwig Square (now known as Koumoundourou Square), in Athens, and was buried at public expense in the First Cemetery of Athens.

Personal life

After the end of the unsuccessful Cretan revolution, he married Ekaterìni Konstantinou G. Mavromichàli of the famed Maniot family. They had two children. His first son Konstantìnos, was born in Kalamata 1846, and daughter Marìa, was born in Kalamata 1845. Ekaterìni died young and Koumoundouros married Efthimìa Perotì who presented him with his second son in 1858, Spirìdonas and in 1867 a daughter, Olga.

Other spellings of his name are: Kumunduros and Komunduros. Consult Bikélas, Coumoundouros, (Montpelier, 1884).

See also

References

  1. Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.
  2. Woodhouse, "The Story of Modern Greece", "The Emergence of the Greek Kingdom (1833-1908)", p. 173, Faber and Faber (1968).

Notes

Political offices
Preceded by
Benizelos Rouphos
Prime Minister of Greece
March 14, 1865 – November 1, 1865
Succeeded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Preceded by
Dimitrios Voulgaris
Prime Minister of Greece
November 18, 1865 – November 25, 1865
Succeeded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Preceded by
Dimitrios Voulgaris
Prime Minister of Greece
December 30, 1866 – January 1, 1868
Succeeded by
Aristeidis Moraitinis
Preceded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Prime Minister of Greece
December 15, 1870 – November 9, 1871
Succeeded by
Thrasivoulos Zaimis
Preceded by
Charilaos Trikoupis
Prime Minister of Greece
October 27, 1875 – December 8, 1876
Succeeded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Preceded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Prime Minister of Greece
December 13, 1876 – March 10, 1877
Succeeded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Preceded by
Epameinondas Deligeorgis
Prime Minister of Greece
June 1, 1877 – June 7, 1877
Succeeded by
Konstantinos Kanaris
Preceded by
Konstantinos Kanaris
Prime Minister of Greece
September 14, 1877 – November 2, 1878
Succeeded by
Charilaos Trikoupis
Preceded by
Charilaos Trikoupis
Prime Minister of Greece
November 7, 1878 – March 22, 1880
Succeeded by
Charilaos Trikoupis
Preceded by
Charilaos Trikoupis
Prime Minister of Greece
October 25, 1880 – March 15, 1882
Succeeded by
Charilaos Trikoupis
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