Editing Georgios Rallis

{{short description|Greek politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Lead too short|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
<!-- DO NOT ADD HONORIFICS OR NUMBERS OF SUCCESSION; THEY ARE NOT USED IN GREECE -->
|name           = Georgios Rallis
| native_name   = {{Nobold|{{Lang|el|Γεώργιος Ράλλης}}}}
|image = Георгиос Раллис в Люксембурге (29-06-1981).jpg
|image_size     = 200px
|caption        = Rallis in 1981
|office         = [[Prime Minister of Greece]]
|president      = [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]]
|term_start     = 10 May 1980
|term_end       = 21 October 1981
|predecessor    = [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]]
|successor      = [[Andreas Papandreou]]
|office1        = [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]]
|primeminister1 = [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]]
|term_start1    = 10 May 1978
|term_end1      = 9 May 1980
|predecessor1   = [[:de:Panagiotis Papaligouras|Panagis Papaligouras]]
|successor1     = [[Constantine Mitsotakis]]
|office2        = [[Minister of Education (Greece)|Minister of Education]]
|primeminister2 = [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]]
|term_start2    = 5 January 1976
|term_end2      = 28 November 1977
|predecessor2   = [[Ioannis Varvitsiotis]]
|successor2     = [[Panagiotis Zepos]]
|birth_name     = Georgios Ioannou Rallis
|birth_date     = {{birth date|1918|12|26|df=y}}{{Greece Old Style dating}}
|birth_place    = [[Athens]], [[Greece]]
|death_date     = {{death date and age|2006|3|15|1918|12|26|df=y}}
|death_place    = [[Athens]], [[Greece]]
|party          = [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]]
|spouse         = Lena Rallis (died 2015)
|children       = 2
|alma_mater     = [[National and Kapodistrian University of Athens|University of Athens]]
|signature      = Georgios-Rallis-signature.svg
}}
'''Georgios Ioannou Rallis''' ({{langx|el|Γεώργιος Ιωάννου Ράλλης}}; 26 December 1918 – 15 March 2006), [[anglicisation|anglicised]] to '''George Rallis''', was a [[Greece|Greek]] conservative politician and [[Prime Minister of Greece]] from 1980 to 1981.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://primeminister.gr/primeminister/history | title=Διατελέσαντες Πρωθυπουργοί | date=27 December 2016 }}</ref>

== Ancestors in politics ==
[[File:Georgios_Rallis.JPG|thumb|left|150px|{{Interlanguage link|George A. Rallis|el|Γεώργιος Α. Ράλλης}}, great-grandfather of Georgios Rallis]]
Georgios was descended from the old, noble and political [[Rallis]] family. Alexandros Rallis, born in 1760, was a prominent [[Phanariote]] (Greek from [[Constantinople]]). In 1849 his son {{Interlanguage link|George A. Rallis|el|Γεώργιος Α. Ράλλης}} became Chief Justice of the Greek Supreme Court. [[Dimitrios Rallis]], paternal grandfather of Georgios Rallis, served as Prime Minister of Greece for five separate short periods in 1897, 1903, 1905, 1909 and 1921. Dimitrios's son and Georgios's father, [[Ioannis Rallis]], was a [[collaborationist]] Prime Minister from 1943 to 1944, during the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Axis Occupation of Greece|occupation]]. After the liberation of Greece he was sentenced to life imprisonment for collaboration and died in jail in 1946. His maternal grandfather, [[Georgios Theotokis]], was four times Prime Minister of Greece, between 1901 and 1907.

== Early life ==
Georgios Rallis was born on 26 December 1918<ref name="ingr">{{cite web | url = http://reviews.in.gr/greece/ekloges_sept2015/article/?aid=1500023576 | title = ΕΚΛΟΓΕΣ 9/2015: Οι πρωθυπουργοί μετά τη Μεταπολίτευση. 1980–1981: ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΡΑΛΛΗΣ | language = el | publisher = in.gr | date = 7 September 2015 | access-date = 15 September 2015}}</ref> in the prestigious [[Kolonaki]] district of [[Athens]].

He studied law and political sciences at the [[University of Athens]].<ref name="ingr"/> Shortly after graduating he joined the [[Greco-Italian War|fight against fascist Italy]] after the italian invasion on 28 October 1940 as a cavalry Second Lieutenant of the Reserve.<ref name="ingr"/> He was recalled to active service during the [[Greek Civil War]] of 1946–49, during which he served in the armoured corps.<ref name="ingr"/>

== Political career ==
{{Conservatism in Greece sidebar|Politicians}}
Rallis was first elected to the Greek Parliament as a member of the [[People's Party (Greece)|People's Party]] in the [[1950 Greek legislative election|1950 general election]], and was re-elected in all subsequent elections until the end of his political career in 1993, except the [[1958 Greek legislative election|1958 election]] and the [[June 1989 Greek legislative election|June 1989 election]], where he did not run.<ref name="ingr"/> He was first appointed a cabinet minister on 11 April 1954 in the government of [[Alexander Papagos]], as Minister for the Presidency of the Government.<ref name="ingr"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1194 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ ΠΑΠΑΓΟΥ - Από 19.11.1952 έως 6.10.1955 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>

A close collaborator of [[Constantine Karamanlis]],<ref name="ingr"/> he retained the position under the first Karamanlis cabinet (6 October 1955 – 29 February 1956),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1206 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Γ. ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ - Από 6.10.1955 έως 29.2.1956 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> and went on to serve as Minister for Transport and Public Works in the 1956–58 Karamanlis cabinet,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1209 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Γ. ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ - Από 29.2.1956 έως 5.3.1958 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> and as [[Minister for the Interior (Greece)|Minister for the Interior]] in the 1961–1963 Karamanlis cabinet.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1224 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Γ. ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ - Από 4.11.1961 έως 19.6.1963 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> He was also among the founding members of the [[National Radical Union]] (ERE) in 1956.<ref name="ingr"/> In 1958, he quarrelled with Karamanlis over the latter's adoption of a new electoral law, on which he had not been consulted, and for a few years left ERE, before returning to the fold in 1961.

Rallis was appointed to the post of [[Minister for Public Order (Greece)|Minister for Public Order]] in the [[caretaker cabinet]] of [[Panagiotis Kanellopoulos]] on 3 April 1967.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1255 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΠΑΝΑΓΙΩΤΗ ΚΑΝΕΛΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ - Από 3.4.1967 έως 21.4.1967 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> It was in this position that the [[1967 Greek coup d'état|coup d'état]] of the Colonels found him on 21 April 1967. Rallis managed to evade capture by the putschists and go to the command centre of the [[Greek Gendarmerie]], from where by radio he tried in vain to get in contact with the [[III Army Corps (Greece)|III Army Corps]] and order it to descend onto Athens and suppress the coup.<ref name="ingr"/> Following the establishment of the [[Regime of the Colonels|Junta of the Colonels]], he was arrested thrice, imprisoned and sent to internal exile to the island of [[Kasos]]. Among his anti-regime activities were his campaigning against the Junta-sponsored [[1973 Greek republic referendum|Republic referendum of 1973]], and his criticism of the regime through his editorship of the magazine ''Politika Themata''.<ref name="ingr"/>

In 1974, following the [[metapolitefsi|fall of the dictatorship]], Rallis became briefly Minister for the Interior and then again Minister to the Prime Minister in the national unity government under Karamanlis,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1271 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Γ. ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ (Κυβέρνησις Εθνικής Ενότητας – De Facto) - Από 24.7.1974 έως 21.11.1974 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> and held on to the post (from 2 January 1975 as Minister for the Presidency of the Government) under the government formed by Karamanlis' new party, [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]], after the [[1974 Greek legislative election|November 1974 election]].<ref name="1974–77">{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1274 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Γ. ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ - Από 21.11.1974 έως 28.11.1977 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> On 5 January 1976 he also assumed the post of [[Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs]], which he held in tandem with the former post until the end of the cabinet term on 28 November 1977.<ref name="1974–77"/> From the post of Minister for Education he oversaw the [[educational reform]], the institution of the [[Demotic Greek]] as the [[official language|formal language]] in schools and the administration, replacing the [[Katharevousa]], and the reform of the school curricula.<ref name="ingr"/>

Following the [[1977 Greek legislative election|1977 election]], he served first as [[Ministry of Coordination (Greece)|Minister for Coordination]], before becoming [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]] in May 1978.<ref name="ingr"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1279 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ Γ. ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗ - Από 28.11.1977 έως 10.5.1980 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> He was the first Greek Foreign Minister to visit the [[Soviet Union]], in October 1978, and negotiated Greece's accession to the [[European Union|EEC]], signing Greece's accession agreement in May 1979.<ref name="ingr"/> He also worked to restore relations with [[Communist Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].

After Karamanlis [[1980 Greek presidential election|was elected]] to the post of [[President of Greece|President of the Republic]], on 8 May 1980 Rallis was elected by New Democracy's parliamentary group as the new party chairman, and was sworn in as Prime Minister on 10 May.<ref name="ingr"/><ref name="1980–81">{{cite web | url = http://www.ggk.gov.gr/?p=1283 | title = Κυβέρνησις ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ Ι. ΡΑΛΛΗ - Από 10.5.1980 έως 21.10.1981 | publisher=General Secretariat of the Government | language=el | access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> During his tenure Greece rejoined the military wing of [[NATO]].
[[File:Георгиос Раллис и Константин Мицотакис в Люксембурге (29-06-1981).jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister Rallis with Foreign Minister [[Constantine Mitsotakis]] in [[Luxembourg]] on 26 June 1981]]
He led the government until his defeat by [[Andreas Papandreou]]'s [[PASOK]] in the [[1981 Greek legislative election|18 October 1981 election]], resigning on 21 October.<ref name="ingr"/><ref name="1980–81"/> Shortly after, in early December, having lost the confidence of his party's MPs, he resigned from the chairmanship of New Democracy.<ref name="ingr"/>

In May 1987 he split from New Democracy and became an independent MP. He did not participate in the June 1989 election, but after a personal invitation by the new New Democracy chairman, [[Konstantinos Mitsotakis]], he rejoined the party and was elected an MP for [[Corfu]].<ref name="ingr"/> After a renewed dispute with Mitsotakis, now Prime Minister, over the handling of the [[Macedonia naming dispute]], he resigned from his post and retired from politics in March 1993.<ref name="ingr"/> During his retirement, Rallis established and cultivated organically-farmed vineyards and olive groves at his family estate on Corfu.

Although Rallis became Prime Minister at a time when the fortunes of his party were in decline, he remained a popular figure because of his well-liked personal attributes of mildness, modesty and straightforwardness. A wealthy patrician by birth, he always made a point of living modestly, walking to work (even as a Prime Minister, much to the frustration of his security detail), and taking the time to greet and talk with those he met on the street. He died of [[Congestive heart failure|heart failure]] at his home on 15 March 2006. He is survived by his wife, Lena Rallis (''née'' Voultsou) and their two daughters, Zaira Papaligouras and Joanna Farmakidis.

Rallis spoke English, French, and German, and wrote 14 books.<ref name="ingr"/>

A bust of Rallis in Corfu was stolen in April 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enimerosi.com/article/31657/Bust-of-former-Prime-Minister-Giorgos-Rallis-stolen|title=Bust of former Prime Minister Giorgos Rallis stolen!|publisher=Enimerosi|date=4 April 2019|access-date=21 August 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927080651/http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=13174&m=A04&aa=2&eidos=A ''Athens News'' obituary]
*[https://archive.today/20140102113110/http://www.ert-archives.gr/V3/public/main/page-assetview.aspx?tid=4782&tsz=0&autostart=0 1991 interview of Rallis on his career in the 1950s and early 1960s], ERT Archive

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rallis, Georgios}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
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