Markos Vafeiadis | |
|---|---|
| Μάρκος Βαφειάδης | |
 | |
| Member of theHellenic Parliament forNational list | |
| In office 5 November 1989 – 22 February 1992 | |
| Head of theProvisional Democratic Government | |
| In office December 24, 1947 – February 7, 1949 | |
| Succeeded by | Nikos Zachariadis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1906-01-28)28 January 1906 |
| Died | 22 February 1992(1992-02-22) (aged 86) |
| Resting place | First Cemetery of Athens |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Political party | Communist Party of Greece Panhellenic Socialist Movement |
| Nickname | Kapetan Markos |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Provisional Democratic Government |
| Branch/service |  Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 (ELAS) 1946–1949 (DSE) |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars | Greek Resistance,Greek Civil War |
Markos Vafeiadis (also spelled asVafiadis andVafiades;Greek:Μάρκος Βαφειάδης;(1906-01-28)28 January 1906 –(1992-02-22)22 February 1992)[1][2] was a leading figure of theCommunist Party of Greece (KKE) during theGreek Resistance and theGreek Civil War.[3]
Vafiedis was born inTosya,Ottoman Empire in1906 although some sources claim he was born inŞenkaya,Erzurum in present-day Turkey.[2] At the age of 17, after thePopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1923, Vafeiadis went toThessaloniki andKavala as a refugee. From 1928, he worked in Thessaloniki as a member of theYoung Communist League of Greece (OKNE). In 1932, he was imprisoned and sent tointernal exile for his political action. After his release in October 1933, he worked as party instructor in many areas of Greece.
At the beginning ofIoannis Metaxas' dictatorship (the "4th of August Regime") he was exiled again to the island ofAi Stratis, but managed to escape in less than a month. Subsequently, he worked in the party's underground organization inCrete and was one of the leaders of theChania uprising against the dictatorial regime (July 28, 1938). After the suppression of the uprising, he went to Athens where he was arrested. He was jailed inAkronafplia and was exiled to the island ofGavdos.
In May 1941, at the beginning of theNazi German occupation of Greece, he, along with other Greek military prisoners, escaped from the island of Gavdos and began what was to become the original underground work against the Germanoccupation, initially in Crete, later in Athens, Thessaloniki and eventually all ofMacedonia. In 1942, he was elected into theCentral Committee of the Communist Party of Greece and was named supervisor of the Macedonia wing of theGreek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). In May 1944, he was elected as a representative of Thessaloniki to thenational congress that took place at the village of Koryschades inEvrytania, but was unable to attend. On 30 October 1944, after the withdrawal of the German army, and following battles against the Security Battalions, he entered as liberator inThessaloniki with his men of ELAS.[4]
In November 1944, his forces liberatedCentral Macedonia and helped save thousands ofGreek Jews from imminent peril from the exiting Nazi regime. In February 1946, Markos Vafeiadis disagreed withNikos Zachariadis, the general secretary of KKE, who wanted to create a standing communist army. Vafeiadis believed that the forces of the Greek government were too strong, and the best option for the KKE was a guerrilla struggle.
However, in July 1946, Zachariadis appointed him as leader of the communistguerrilla formations. In October 1946, when the General Command of theDemocratic Army of Greece (DSE) was founded, Vafeiadis assumed its leadership, and in December 1947 he was appointedPrime Minister andWar Minister of theProvisional Democratic Government.
During the last stages of theCivil War his disagreement with Zachariadis on issues ofmilitary doctrine led to his removal from leadership (August 1948) and later from all offices (January 1949). In October 1950, he was ousted from the Communist Party, while he was in exile in theSoviet Union, where he had fled after the breakup of the DSE.
After the end ofJoseph Stalin's era, Markos Vafeiadis was restored into KKE and was elected as a member of thePolitical Bureau of the Central Committee of the party. However, new disagreement with the party leadership led to his removal from office in January 1958 and to his second ousting from the KKE in June 1964. After the party split in 1968, the"interior" (εσωτερικού) faction of the KKE restored him. In March 1983, ending his 33-year exile in theSoviet Union, he returned to Greece and the island of Chios where he later published hisMemoirs.[5] Ηe became a political supporter ofAndreas Papandreou and inNovember 1989 andApril 1990, he was honorarily elected into the Greek parliament through the nationwide list of thePanhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).[6] In 1984 he was awarded the rank of the General of the Hellenic army.
| Preceded by (none) | Head of Provisional Democratic Government December 24, 1947 – February 7, 1949 | Succeeded by |
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