- With rifle and pen for language and fatherland -

By PILO ZYBA

Pavllo Kundurioti (April 1855 - 22 August 1935) was an admiral in the Royal Navy, Chief of the General Staff and Chief of the Second Fleet of Greece during the Balkan Wars. He took part in the Thessaloniki government as a member. He was twice President of the Greek Republic.

Pavllo Kundurioti was born in Hydra in April 1855. He was the son of Teodor Kunturioti, the son of the former Prime Minister of Greece Jorgo Kundurioti, with ancient Arvanite roots. Following the family’s naval tradition, he joined the Royal Navy in 1875. In 1886, Pavllo took part as a lieutenant in the naval operations in Preveza, and in Crete during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 with the rank of Commander. He disembarked as governor, landing with the expedition of Colonel Timoleon Chania Vassos Kolimbari in February 1897, and at Leptokaria Scala in April 1897. As commander of the “Miaoulis”—whose namesake is known for his Arvanite descent and his bravery in the Greek Revolution—Kundurioti made his first voyage outside the Greek state. His first trip was to the American continent, specifically to Boston and Philadelphia. In 1908 he became aide-de-camp to King Jorgo, and the following year he was promoted to captain.

In June 1911, on the crew of the Averoff, Pavllo Kundurioti received the title of captain. With the outbreak of the Balkan Wars, he was promoted to Admiral on 16 April 1912, and became Chief of Staff, a position he held until 16 September 1912. He then became commander of the fleet in the Aegean. As commander of the Lemnos Battleship Averof, he had under his protection the areas of Thasos, Imbros, Tenedos, Psara, Agios Efstrathios and Samothrace. By 21 December he had managed to liberate almost all the islands involved in his combat operations. With the Averof Battleship he took part in two battles, at Elli and Lemnos (5 January 1913). He won these battles thanks to his military skills, prevailing once and for all over the Dardanelles Strait, and driving the Turkish armies out of there.

Pavllo Kundurioti… 1855 - 1935

At the end of the Balkan Wars he was raised to the title of admiral, a war hero with extraordinary service. It should be noted that, after the first Greek publication, Konstandino Kanari received this rank. He then took over the Ministry of Naval Affairs in the governments of Stephen, Aleksandër Zaimi and Skuludhi. Disagreeing with Greece’s political neutrality in the Second World War, he took part in the Thessaloniki government as a member of the triumvirate (Danglis-Venizelos-Koundouriotis). In 1917 he once again took up the post at the Ministry of Naval Affairs, and that same year he retired with the honorary rank of admiral.

Following the death of King Aleksandër, he was appointed Viceroy until November 1920, and again after the departure of Jorgo II from the country in December 1923, until the declaration of the Republic in March 1924. As a person of excellence and wide acceptance, he was elected temporary President of the Republic, a post he held until 1926, when he resigned to protest against the dictatorship of General Theodore Pangalos. On 4 June 1929, he was re-elected to the post of President by the Congress and the Senate, but resigned again for health reasons.

Pavllo Kundurioti died on 22 August 1935 in Paleo Faliro. He married twice, in London in 1889 to Angela Petrokokkinou (1865-1903) and in Athens in 1918 to Helena Kupas (1876-1957). He had children with his first wife. He was buried in the Kountourioti family tomb in Hydra. Beside him are also the heroes of the Greek revolution of Arvanite origin, such as Miauli and Bubulina. His son, Theodhori Kundurioti, joined the navy and served as captain of the Averoff, his father’s legendary battleship. In 1944 he left on the ship Averof with the government in exile in Egypt.