Dimitrios Meletopoulos | |
|---|---|
| Δημήτριος Μελετόπουλος | |
 A portrait of Dimitrios Meletopoulos | |
| Minister of the Interior | |
| Monarch | Otto |
| Minister of Military Affairs | |
| Assumed office 1851 | |
| Monarch | Otto |
| Prime Minister | Antonios Kriezis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1796 |
| Died | 1858 |
| Children | Leonidas Meletopoulos Angelos Meletopoulos Charilaos Meletopoulos |
| Occupation | Revolutionary Soldier Politician |
| Awards |  Order of the Redeemer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece |
| Branch/service |  Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1821-1858 |
| Rank | General (Revolutionary Army) Lieutenant General (Hellenic Army) |
| Battles/wars | |
Dimitrios Meletopoulos (Greek:Δημήτριος Μελετόπουλος,Aigio,c. 1796 –Athens, 1858) was aGreek revolutionary leader of theGreek War of Independence and later a politician.[1]
Meletopoulos was born in Vostitsa (Aigio)[1] and was one of the six children of Aggelis Meletopoulos and Anastasia Charalampi. His grandfather was Christodoulos Meletopoulos, a notable who actively participated in theOrlov Revolt of 1770.[2] Before 1821, Dimitrios Meletopoulos worked as a raisin merchant. He became member ofFiliki Eteria in 1819 through his father, who served inConstantinople asvekil and participated in the assembly of Vostitsa. Together withAndreas Londos and Leontas Messinezis, the younger Meletopoulos supported the proposal ofPapaflessas for the immediate start of the Revolution.[2]
During the Revolution he initially supported the Londos family.[1] On 26 March 1821 he seized Vostitsa from theOttomans. He also participated in the battles of Patras, in the repelling of the army ofDramali Pasha and in the military operations in Central Greece.[2] He eventually rose to head his own military force[1] and in 1823 he was appointed a lieutenant general.
During theGreek civil wars of 1823–25, although initially he took the side of Londos, he shifted to support the government faction ofGeorgios Kountouriotis. In 1824 he was promoted to general.[2] Later, he participated in the operations against the army ofIbrahim Pasha of Egypt, and the subjugation of the regions of thePeloponnese that had surrendered to the Ottomans.[2]
Meletopoulos participated actively in theThird andFifth National assemblies in the following years. He continued in politics in the independent Greek state, where he was elected as mayor of Aigio. He was appointed as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Military Affairs, and twice served as prefect of theAttica and Boeotia Prefecture.
During the reign of KingOtto of Greece, Meletopoulos was appointed lieutenant general in the regular army. He died in 1858 in Athens from apoplexy (or stroke). At the end of his life, he was destitute. From his marriage to a daughter ofAnagnostis Deligiannis, he had three sons: Leonidas, Angelos and Charilaos.[2]