Alexandros Svolos

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Alexandros Svolos

Alexandros Svolos ( Greek Ἀλέξανδρος Σβώλος ; * 1892 in Kruševo , today in North Macedonia ; † February 22, 1956 in Athens ) was a Greek legal scholar , politician and Prime Minister of the counter-government during the occupation of Greece by the German Wehrmacht (1944).

Studies and professional career

Svolos, whose parents came from Wallachia , studied law in Istanbul (1911 to 1912) and then at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens . In 1915 he obtained his doctorate in law with a dissertation on corporate law .

From 1917 to 1920 he was director of the department for labor and social policy in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In this capacity he was the author of the important Act 2112/1920 (περί καταγγελίας συμβάσεως εργασίας), which implemented the International Labor Convention of Washington, DC and also regulated the work of the Ministry on issues relating to the review of labor regulations. From 1921 to 1922 he was director general in the administration of Bursa in Asia Minor . He then worked on behalf of the High Commissioner in Smyrna .

In 1929 he was appointed professor of constitutional law at the National and Kapodistrias University. He held this post until his dismissal because of his left-wing attitude in 1946. In 1935, 1936 and 1944 he was released from teaching because of his political attitude. Between 1936 and 1940, during the rule of dictator Ioannis Metaxas , he was exiled to the islands of Anafi , Milos , Naxos and later to Chalkida on the island of Evia .

Political career

Prime Minister of the Mountain Government

From 1941 to 1943 he was chairman of the Committee of Macedonians and Thracians . In this function, he wrote a memorandum to the German occupying power to protect these population groups.

After some hesitation, on April 18, 1944, he took over the post of Chairman of the Political Committee of National Liberation (Πολιτική Επιτροπή Εθνικής Απελευθέρωσης). The PKNB was a communist counter-government to the collaboration government under Ioannis Rallis in Athens and the government under Emmanouil Tsouderos, recognized by the Allies in exile in Cairo . Colloquially, the government was referred to as the mountain government (Κυβέρνηση του βουνού) because of its hiding places or its seat. However, he already took part in a conference in Lebanon in May 1944 , in which, together with the government in exile, it was decided to form a government of national unity.

After the dissolution of the mountain government on September 2, 1944, he was finance minister in the cabinet of Georgios Papandreou until December 31, 1944 , who returned to Athens with his cabinet from exile in Cairo on October 18, 1944. Three days before Papandreou's resignation on January 3, 1945, Svolos resigned with the ministers of his National Liberation Front (Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο).

post war period

Between 1945 and 1953 was chairman of the Socialist Party (Σοσιαλιστικό Κόμμα). After its merger with the Democratic Party (Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα) was the founder and then chairman of the Democratic Workers' and People's Party (Κόμμα του Εργαζόμενου Λαού) from 1953 until his death.

On March 5, 1950 he was elected a member of the National Assembly (Voulí ton Ellínon) . There he represented the constituency of Thessaloniki . However, he lost this mandate again in the early elections of November 8, 1951 and in the elections of November 16, 1952, he did not succeed in re-entering the National Assembly. It was not until the parliamentary elections on February 19, 1956 that he was re-elected as a member of parliament. However, he died just three days after the election.

Publications

As a recognized legal scholar, he published several works on constitutional law:

  • The right of syndicates of workers and the right of associations, dissertation, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 1915
  • The obligatory expropriation to re-establishment of farmers, 1917
  • The New Constitution and the bases of Regime, 1928
  • Legislative decrees at authorization of Parliaments, 1932
  • The revision of Constitution, 1933
  • Constitutional Right, 1934 and 1942
  • For Macedonia and the Thrace, 1945
  • Epitome of constitutional right, 1945
  • The Constitution of Greece, 1954

Biographical sources and background information

personal data
SURNAME Svolos, Alexandros
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek lawyer, politician and Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Kruševo , Macedonia
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1956
Place of death Athens