Phaedon Gizikis
{{short description|Greek military officer (1917–1999)}}
{{use dmy dates|date = December 2023}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Phaedon Gizikis
{{Nobold|{{Lang|el|Φαίδων Γκιζίκης}}}}
| image = Phaedon Gizikis (1968).jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Gizikis in 1968
| order = President of Greece
| term_start = {{start date|1973|11|25|df=y}}
| term_end = {{end date|1974|12|17|df=y}}
| primeminister = Adamantios Androutsopoulos
| predecessor = Georgios Papadopoulos
| successor = Michail Stasinopoulos
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|6|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = Volos, Kingdom of Greece
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|7|26|1917|6|16|df=y}}
| death_place = Athens, Greece
| spouse =
| party =
| alma_mater = Hellenic Military Academy
| allegiance = * {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} Kingdom of Greece
| branch = {{army|Greece}}
| serviceyears = 1939–1974
| battles = World War II
Greek Civil War
1967 Greek coup d'état
| awards = 30px Gold Cross of Valour
30px Grand Commander of the Order of George I
30px Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix
30px War Cross
30px Medal of Military Merit
| service_number =
| appointer = Dimitrios Ioannidis
}}
Phaedon Gizikis ({{langx|el|Φαίδων Γκιζίκης}} {{IPA|el|ˈfeðon ɟiˈzicis|}}; 16 June 1917 – 26 July 1999) was a Greek army general who was the last President of Greece under the junta from 1973 to 1974.
Early life and military career
Born in Volos, Kingdom of Greece, Gizikis was a career Hellenic Army officer. His service number was 21756.Legislative Decree 238/1973, as published in ΦΕΚ (Government Gazette Issue) Α 315/1973 He graduated from the Hellenic Military Academy in 1939, achieving the rank of second lieutenant in artillery, and participated in the Greco-Italian War and the Greek Civil War. In 1967, he supported the Georgios Papadopoulos coup d'état and received a number of senior military posts during the dictatorship that followed.{{cite web|title=Phaedon Gizikis 1917–1999|url=http://www.sansimera.gr/biographies/845|date=2002|access-date = 30 November 2014}}{{Cite book|last1=Ross|first1=Martha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSQOAQAAMAAJ&q=phaedon+gizikis+1917|title=Rulers and Governments of the World|last2=Spuler|first2=Bertold|publisher=Bowker|year=1977|isbn=978-0-85935-056-3|page=260|language=en|quote=Phaedon Gizikis (b. Volos 16 Jun 1917)}}{{Cite web|title=Phaidon Gizikis - Munzinger Biographie|url=https://www.munzinger.de/search/go/document.jsp?id=00000013849|access-date=2021-05-04|website=www.munzinger.de|publisher=Munzinger-Archiv|language=de}}{{Cite web|last=Clogg|first=Richard|date=2011-10-23|title=Obituary: General Phaedon Gizikis|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-general-phaedon-gizikis-1110723.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-general-phaedon-gizikis-1110723.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-04|website=The Independent|language=en}}
Later life
He was given the title of President of the Republic on 25 November 1973, after Papadopoulos was ousted by Dimitrios Ioannidis as head of the regime in an internal power struggle.{{Cite web|last=Ferrari|first=Antonio|date=2016-04-30|title=Alekos, Oriana Fallaci e la storia d'amore spezzata quarant'anni fa|url=http://www.corriere.it/extra-per-voi/2016/04/30/passione-gelosia-dolore-alekos-oriana-storia-d-amore-spezzata-quarant-anni-fa-8b976490-0d43-11e6-9053-86a90bf524d0.shtml|access-date=2021-05-02|website=Corriere della Sera|language=it}} Three days later, he was promoted to full General (Strategos), a decision he signed himself. While serving as president, following the supported coup in Cyprus, he would detract from open confrontation with Turkish forces during the invasion of Cyprus. Ioannidis would later blame Gizikis and other hesitant leaders as the reason for the Greek loss.{{Cite news|date=August 17, 2010|title=Dimitris Ioannidis The end of the "invisible dictator"|language=Greek|work=To Vima|url=https://www.tovima.gr/2010/08/17/politics/b-dimitris-iwannidis-b-br-to-telos-toy-aoratoy-diktatora/|access-date=May 3, 2021}} As president he gave the task of forming a new government, following the collapse of the Junta, to Constantine Karamanlis.{{Cite web|date=2015-07-03|title=L'ultimo referendum in Grecia|url=http://www.ilpost.it/2015/07/03/lultimo-referendum-in-grecia/|access-date=2021-05-02|website=Il Post|language=it-IT}} After the fall of the dictatorship in 1974, he retained his post for four months pro tempore, until a new constitution could be enacted during metapolitefsi; he was then replaced by Michail Stasinopoulos.
Gizikis retired from the army in 1974, on the same day he resigned from his position as head of state. In 1976, a military judicial council dropped proceedings against him and 88 other former officers charged with treason and mutiny for collaborating with the former junta.
He died on 26 July 1999 at the NIMTS military hospital in Athens, just one month after his predecessor, Georgios Papadopoulos.Pace, Eric. [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/30/world/phaidon-gizikis-73-greek-junta-officer-82.html "Phaidon Gizikis, '73 Greek Junta Officer, 82."] The New York Times 30 July 1999
References
{{reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box
| title = President of Greece
| before = Georgios Papadopoulos
| after = Michail Stasinopoulos
| years = 25 November 1973 – 17 December 1974
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Heads of state of Greece}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gizikis, Phaedon}}
Category:20th-century presidents of Greece
Category:Leaders of the Greek junta
Category:Hellenic Army generals
Category:Leaders who took power by coup
Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Category:People of the Greco-Italian War
{{Greece-politician-stub}}
{{Greece-mil-bio-stub}}