Stephanos Dragoumis

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Stephanos Dragoumis

Stephanos Dragoumis (Greek: Στέφανος Δραγούμης) (1842 – 1923) was a judge, writer and Prime Minister of Greece in 1909. He was the father of Ion Dragoumis.

His grandfather, Markos Dragoumis (1770-1854) from Vogatsiko in Kastoria, had been a member of the 1814-1821 revolutionary Filiki Eteria. Born in Athens in 1842, Dragoumis studied law and was a judge. He became Secretary-General of the Ministry of Justice and was very active politically. He was later elected a member of Parliament and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior.He was also active in the Macedonian Struggle. The organization Macedonian Committee was formed in 1904 by Stephanos Dragoumis in Athens.

Following the Goudi Revolt by the Military League in 1909, the political processes in Greece were in a state of turmoil. The issue of Cretan annexation and military reforms loomed large. After Kiriakoulis Mavromichalis resigned as Prime Minister in January, 1909, Dragoumis was appointed as part of a reformation government and the Military League dissolved. At the same time, Eleftherios Venizelos arrived in Athens from Crete and concluded the unification of Crete with Greece. In March, the Greek Parliament decided to convoke a "Reforming Parliament". The Dragoumis government responded positively to the demands of its dual mission: to secure a smooth path towards the process of reform and to complete its legislative programme.^[1] By September, Venizelos had arrived in Athens and by drawing large crowds to rallies had established his political strength. King George invited Venizelos to form a government and Dragoumis resigned.

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