Dimitrios Gounaris

Dimitrios Gounaris (; 5 January 1867 – 28 November 1922) was a Greek politician who served as the prime minister of Greece from 25 February to 10 August 1915 and 26 March 1921 to 3 May 1922. The leader of the People's Party, he was the main right-wing opponent of his contemporary Eleftherios Venizelos.

Early life He studied law at Athens University and continued his studies in Germany, France and England, before returning to his native Patras. He was elected deputy for Achaea in 1902 and distinguished himself as an orator and a member of the so-called "Japanese Group" Despite his progressive views (he was an admirer of the Bismarckian German social laws), his conservative political thinking turned him into a leading opponent of Eleftherios Venizelos.

First premiership He was appointed Prime Minister after Venizelos' first resignation in 1915 by King Constantine I. amidst the ongoing 1919–1922 Greco-Turkish War.

Second premiership and war against Turkey

After Venizelos' defeat, Gounaris controlled most deputies in the parliament, and was the main driving force of the following royalist governments,

Trial, execution and legacy

After the disaster of August 1922 and the rout of the Greeks by Mustafa Kemal's forces, the remnants of the Greek Army revolted in September, and the government was deposed. The predominantly Venizelist rebels, under the leadership of Colonel Nikolaos Plastiras, formed a military tribunal to try those that were considered as responsible for the catastrophe. The so-called "Trial of the Six", convened in November 1922, found the defendants, Gounaris among them, guilty of treason. He was executed along with the others at Goudi on the same day of the verdict, on 28 November. to be more an act of scapegoating in order to vent the anger of the people, as well as being mostly motivated by the hatred of the Venizelist faction towards him. In 2010, the Supreme Court of Greece overturned convictions of Gounaris and other defendants.

Gounaris together with some conservative politicians were the first to propose amendment to the Greek Constitution to allow women's suffrage rights. The amendment ultimately failed to pass.