Emmanouil Tsouderos

Emmanouil Tsouderos (1882 - 1956) was a political and financial figure of modern Greece, serving as Prime Minister-in-exile during World War II.

Early life

Tsouderos was born in Rethymno, Crete in 1882 and studied law at Athens Univesrity. He furthered his studies in economics in Paris and London. cite news |first= |last= |coauthors= |title=M.Tsouderos War-Time Premier Of Greece Obituary |date=Saturday, Feb 11, 1956 |publisher= |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/ |work=The Times |pages=9; Issue 53452; col C |accessdate=2008-06-29 |language=] He returned to Crete aged 24 and was elected Member of Parliament of the Cretan Legislature (1906 - 1912). After the union ("Ενωσις") of Crete with Greece, he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament and served as Minister of Transportation under Eleftherios Venizelos and Minister of Finances under Themistoklis Sophoulis. With the establishment of the Central Bank of Greece in 1928 he was appointed as first Vice-Governor and then as governor in 1931. [ [http://www.bankofgreece.gr/en/bank/ Bank of Greece - The Bank ] ] .

Prime minister

In 1941, Tsouderos succeeded Alexandros Korizis as Prime Minister of Greece. Korizis committed suicide as the German Army ("Wehrmacht Heer") advanced towards Athens. After assuming power, Tsouderos fled with King George to Crete where he organised Greek forces to face the coming German invasion.

Tsouderos fled again during the Battle of Crete. He went to the Middle East and later Egypt. Tsouderos headed the Greek government in exile until 1944. This government was initially located in London and subsequently moved to Cairo. He served in the subsequent government in exile under Sophoklis Venizelos and, after the end of World War II, Tsouderos served in different capacities until his death at the age of 74 in Genoa, Italy on Feb 10, 1956.

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