Stylianos Pattakos (Greek: Στυλιανός Παττακός; 8 November 1912[4] – 8 October 2016) was a Greek military officer. Pattakos was one of the principals of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that overthrew the government of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos in a coup d'état on 21 April 1967.[5][6][7][8][9]
Major general Stylianos Pattakos | |
---|---|
Στυλιανός Παττακός | |
Deputy Prime Minister of Greece | |
In office 13 December 1967 – 8 October 1973 Serving with Nikolaos Makarezos from 26 August 1971 | |
Preceded by | Grigorios Spandidakis |
Succeeded by | Charilaos Mitrelias |
Minister of the Interior | |
In office 21 April 1967 – 25 August 1971 | |
Preceded by | Spyros Theotokis |
Succeeded by | Adamantios Androutsopoulos |
In office 10 May 1973 – 8 October 1973 | |
Preceded by | Adamantios Androutsopoulos |
Succeeded by | Ioannis Agathangelos |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 November 1912 Agia Paraskevi, Rethymno, Crete, Kingdom of Greece |
Died | 8 October 2016 (aged 103) Athens, Greece |
Alma mater | Hellenic Military Academy |
Awards | Gold Cross of Valour Order of George I Order of the Phoenix War Cross Medal of Military Merit |
Nickname(s) | "The Trowel" ("μυστρί"),[1][2] "The man with the trowel" ("Ο άνθρωπος με το μυστρί")[3] |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Second Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece Greek Junta |
Branch/service | Hellenic Army |
Years of service | 1930–1974 |
Rank | Major general (Cashiered in 1975) |
Battles/wars | World War II
Dekemvriana Greek Civil War 1967 Greek coup d'état |
Pattakos was born on 8 November 1912,[4][10] in the village of Agia Paraskevi in Rethymno Prefecture,[11][12][13] Crete,[4] and studied at the Hellenic Military Academy.[14] He was married to Dimitra Nikolaidi and had two daughters, Rosa and Eirini.[15] His parents were farmers. He served as a Lieutenant during the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941) and as cavalry captain and cavalry major during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949).[16] He was a deeply religious man.[17]
Pattakos eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier and was assigned to the tank training centre at Goudi in Athens.[18]
He, along with Georgios Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Makarezos, planned and executed the coup on the night of April 20 to April 21, 1967, claiming political anomaly had made them do so.[6][19] Many leading politicians and journalists were arrested that night and were led to a hotel in Pikermi. Among them were Kοnstantinos Mitsotakis, Andreas Papandreou, Georgios Rallis, Manolis Glezos.[20] Pattakos was assigned the Ministry of the Interior.[21] He became also the vice president of Kollias government.[16] As head of that post, Pattakos made the decision to strip Greek actress and political activist, Melina Mercouri, of her Greek citizenship and to also confiscate her property.[22] Mercouri retorted "I was born Greek. I will die Greek. Mr. Pattakos was born a fascist. He will die a fascist".[23][24][25][26][27] On 25 November 1973, Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannides overthrew Papadopoulos.[28] The following year, the 7-year Junta came to an end in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[29]
The newly restored democratic government of Constantine Karamanlis put the junta officials on trial with charges of high treason and insurrection against Georgios Papadopoulos and other co-conspirators.[30] Pattakos, along with the other leaders of the 1967 coup, Papadopoulos and Makarezos,[5] were sentenced to death for high treason, following the trial.[9][31] Shortly after the sentences were pronounced, they were commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government.[32] Pattakos spent 17 years in prison.[33] He was released from prison on 28 September 1990 by the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis allegedly due to health reasons and was put under house arrest.[10][16] He was obliged to report to the police office for registration every 15 days.[34] He later stated that he did not regret any of his actions during the dictatorship.[35] In addition, he denied that people were tortured during the dictatorship, except Alekos Panagoulis and Spiros Moustaklis, who "had it coming".[16] Pattakos died of a stroke on 8 October 2016 at the age of 103.[36] His funeral took place on 11 October 2016, in Crete. Despite his requirement to his family to keep the funeral small when his death came on the news, many people were quick to attend it. Among them was Christos Pappas (member of the parliament and member of the ultra-nationalist party Golden Dawn) and many others.[37]
Pattakos was nicknamed "trowel" since he frequently appeared at project inaugurations with a trowel in hand. A staunch non-smoker, he had ordered also all the restaurants in Greece to serve fried potatoes.[38]
Within 24 hours, and before the generals could move on their plan, the colonels launched their own coup.62 Thus, the ... as leaders of the group: Colonel George Papadopoulos, Colonel Nicolaos Makarezos and Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos.
...contingency plan designed to protect the government from a Communist takeover. ... Pattakos, in charge of the tank corps in Athens, had little difficulty in securing the capital, and the coup proceeded without outright opposition or bloodshed.
The three principal authors of the conspiracy — Colonels Georges Papadopoulos and Nicolaos Makarezos and Brigadier General Stylianos Pattakos had, at one time or another in their careers, been intelligence officers. ..
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Furthermore, despite his close relations with the Americans in the past, Nixon refused to see the King during Eisenhower's funeral in 1966, but he did meet with Pattakos, one of the principal members of the Junta (Woodhouse, 1982: 191).
The original troika behind the coup, Colonels Papadopoulos and Makarezos and Brigadier Pattakos, were sentenced to death. ...
Zuweilen verbreitet Pattakos nicht Schrecken, sondern Segen — zum Beispiel in seinem Heimatdorf Aghia Paraskevi...
Deputy S. Pattakos. Aghia Paraskevi village, p. 18
Pattakos,. Stylianos. geb. 1912, Agia Paraskevi, Kreta
All were military academy graduates with seven completing their studies in 1943, four in 1940 and one in 1939. As the ... as leaders of the group: Colonel George Papadopoulos, Colonel Nicolaos Makarezos and Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos.
Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos, the most senior plotter, had command of tank units at the Goudi military reservation in Athens. ...
Pattakos labeled Kanellopoulos's April 3 assumption of power a "coup." The conspirators began final planning. They chose the night of April 20–21 because most key political leaders would be in Athens where they could be rounded up ...
Greek word for honey (rneli), but there was acid in her throaty voice last week as vibrant Melina Mercouri condemned Brig. Gen. Stylianos Pat- takos, strong man of the Greek revolutionary junta which had just stripped her of citizenship and property ... Mr. Pattakos was born a Fascist; he will die a Fascist," said the passionate performer who until the recent coup did as ...
"I was born Greek. I will die Greek. Mr. Pattakos was born a Fascist. He will die a Fascist," said the passionate performer who until the recent coup did as much to spur Creek tourism as all the ancient ruins combined. Curled barefoot in a ...
When asked if she had any comment on this she replied : 'I was born Greek. I shall die Greek. Mr Pattakos was born a fascist. He will die a fascist.' C ASANOVA (trans WILLARD TRASK) History of My Life 4.W PP II I I S LONGMAN 14.
No wonder the talented actress Melina Mercouri, after being stripped of her Greek citizenship in absentia, said of junta member Colonel Pattakos : "I was born a Greek and I will die a Greek. Pattakos was born a Fascist and will die a Fascist.
He repeated it. And my answer came like water from a fountain: 'I was born a Greek, I will die a Greek; Pattakos was born Fascist, he will die Fascist . . .' "And now what will happen, Melina?" I am asked. Now there will be a trial at some ...
... Patakos was born a fascist and will die a fascist," Miss Mercouri said at a press conference she called shortly after hearing that her citizenship had been ...
On 25 November 1973, Brigadier Dimitris Ioannides replaced Papadopoulos with his loyal officers. ... On 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus, and on 24 July the junta's president of Greece, General Phaidon Gizikis, appointed Konstantinos ...
1974 A botched plan to unite Cyprus with Greece prompts the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish troops and results in the fall of the military junta. This acts as a catalyst for the restoration of...