Alèxandros Koumoundoùros

Alèxandros Koumoundoùros (1817 - February 26 1883) was born in a part of Messìnian Màni called “Zarnàta” (part of Stavropìgio), the son of Spirìdonas-Galànis Koumoundoùros who was the Bey of the area during the last period of the Turkish administration.

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.

Alèxandros’ long career encompassed many facets of political life: legislation, parliamentarianism, the promotion of a democratic regime, the restoration of the army, the distribution of national farms to landless farmers, the approval of major construction work (such as the Isthmus of Corinth), etc…

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 an outstanding ten times Prime Minister of Greece. Despite many times experiencing inimical conditions, including at least three assassination attempts, he still managed to create a firm foundation for the future positive recognition of Greece at an international level.

After independence, he moved to Nàfplion where he went to school, then to Athens to study Law.

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. After the end of the revolution he married Ekaterìni Mavromichàli and his first son (Konstantìnos, 1846) and daughter (Marìa) were born. Ekaterìni died young and Alèxandros married Efthimìa Perotì who presented him with his second son in 1858 (Spirìdonas).

Meanwhile he was appointed as Public Prosecutor in the Tribunal of Kalamàta, 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 Messinìa (the greater area 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 Òthon in 1862 he became Minister of Justice of the temporary government.

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

In the succeeding government of 1864, Alèxandros was moved to the Ministry of Religion and Education and later to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On March 25th 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 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 Alèxandros won two of them. He also won the elections of 1878.

March 31st 1881. This is the time of Alèxandros’ greatest achievement, when –during his last (tenth) premiership, after diplomatic contacts with Turkey, he managed to bring about the annexation of areas Thesalìa and Àrta on the Greek mainland.

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 proxy of the opposition party as President of Parliament. As a result, Alèxandros resigned on March 3rd 1882. He died some months later on February 26th 1883, in his home on Koumoundouros Square (in Athens) and was buried at public expense in the First Cemetery of Athens.

• Premierships of Alèxandros Koumoundoùros:
  1. March 14th 1865-June 26th 1865
  2. November 18th 1865-November 25th 1865
  3. December 30th 1866-January 1st 1867
  4. December 15th 1870-November 9th 1871
  5. October 27th 1875-December 8th 1876
  6. December 13th 1876-March 10th 1877
  7. June 1st 1877-June 7th 1877
  8. September 1877-November 2nd 1878
  9. November 7th 1878-March 22nd 1880
  10. October 25th 1880-March 15th 1882