Georgios Papadopoulos

This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. Please help improve it by rewriting it in a balanced fashion that contextualizes different points of view. (April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Georgios Papadopoulos" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Georgios Papadopoulos
Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος
President of Greece
In office 1 June 1973 – 25 November 1973
Prime Minister	Himself Spyros Markezinis
Vice President	General Odysseas Angelis
Preceded by	Constantine II (as King of the Hellenes)
Succeeded by	Phaedon Gizikis
Prime Minister of Greece
In office 13 December 1967 – 8 October 1973
Monarch	Constantine II (until 1973)
President	Himself (from 1973)
Deputy	Stylianos Pattakos
Preceded by	Konstantinos Kollias
Succeeded by	Spyros Markezinis
Regent of Greece
In office 21 March 1972 – 31 May 1973
Monarch	Constantine II
Preceded by	General Geórgios Zoitakis
Succeeded by	None (monarchy abolished) (General Odysseas Angelis as Vice-President of Greece)
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 21 July 1970 – 8 October 1973
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Panagiotis Pipinelis
Succeeded by	Christos Xanthopoulos-Palamas
Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs
In office 20 June 1969 – 21 July 1970
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Theofylaktos Papakonstantinou
Succeeded by	Nikitas Sioris
Minister for National Defence
In office 13 December 1967 – 8 October 1973
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Lt Gen Grigorios Spandidakis
Succeeded by	Nikolaos Efessios
Minister to the Presidency of the Government
In office 21 April 1967 – 8 October 1973
Prime Minister	Konstantinos Kollias Himself
Preceded by	Grigorios Kasimatis
Succeeded by	Ministry abolished (Georgios Rallis becomes minister in 1975)
Personal details
Born	(1919-05-05)5 May 1919 Elaiohori, Kingdom of Greece
Died	27 June 1999(1999-06-27) (aged 80) Athens, Greece
Resting place	First Cemetery of Athens
Political party	National Political Union (1984–1996)
Spouses	Niki Vasileiadi ​ ​ (m. 1942; div. 1969)​ Despina Gaspari ​ (m. 1970)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Hellenic Military Academy
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece (1940–1941, 1944–1973) Hellenic State (1943–1944)
Branch/service	Hellenic Army (1940–1941, 1944–1973) Security Battalions (1943–1944) (allegedly)
Years of service	1940–1973
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Second World War Greco-Italian War Greek Civil War

Georgios Papadopoulos (/ˌpæpəˈdɒpələs/;^[1][2] Greek: Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος [ʝeˈorʝi.os papaˈðopulos]; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greek military officer and dictator who led a coup d'etat in Greece in 1967 and became the country's Prime Minister from 1967 to 1973. He also was the President of Greece under the junta in 1973, following a referendum. However, after the effective suppression of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, he was, in turn, overthrown by hardliner Dimitrios Ioannidis, in a string of events that would culminate to the fall of the regime in 1974. His and the dictatorship's legacy, as well as its methods he constructed and effects on Greek economy and society as a whole, are still fiercely debated.

He joined the Hellenic Army during the Second World War and resisted the Greco-Italian War; in so doing he obtained honors and became a hero. He remained in the army after the war and rose to the rank of colonel.

In April 1967, Papadopoulos and a group of other mid-level army officers overthrew the democratic government and established a military junta that lasted until 1974. Assuming dictatorial powers, he led an authoritarian, anti-communist and ultranationalist regime which eventually ended the Greek monarchy and established a republic, with himself as president. In 1973, he was overthrown and arrested by his co-conspirator Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis. After the Metapolitefsi which restored democracy in 1974, Papadopoulos was tried for his part in the crimes of the junta and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Refusing several offers of clemency in exchange for admitting guilt for the crimes of the junta, he spent the remainder of his life in prison.