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Sofoklis Venizelos

Prime Minister of Greece

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Sofoklis Venizelos
Σοφοκλής Βενιζέλος
Prime Minister of Greece
In office 21 August 1950 – 27 October 1951
Monarch	Paul
Preceded by	Nikolaos Plastiras
Succeeded by	Nikolaos Plastiras
In office 23 March 1950 – 15 April 1950
Monarch	Paul
Preceded by	Ioannis Theotokis
Succeeded by	Nikolaos Plastiras
In office 14 April 1944 – 26 April 1944
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	Emmanouil Tsouderos
Succeeded by	Georgios Papandreou
Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
In office 8 November – 30 December 1963
Monarch	Paul
Prime Minister	Georgios Papandreou
Preceded by	Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
Succeeded by	Stefanos Stefanopoulos
In office 27 October 1951 – 11 October 1952
Monarch	Paul
Prime Minister	Nikolaos Plastiras
Preceded by	Emmanouil Tsouderos
Succeeded by	Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
In office 30 June 1949 – 6 January 1950
Monarch	Paul
Prime Minister	Alexandros Diomidis
Preceded by	Konstantinos Tsaldaris
Succeeded by	Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
In office 24 January – 29 August 1947
Monarch	Paul
Prime Minister	Dimitrios Maximos
Preceded by	Konstantinos Tsaldaris
Succeeded by	Konstantinos Tsaldaris
In office 24 May – 30 August 1944
Monarch	George II
Prime Minister	Georgios Papandreou
Preceded by	Georgios Rousos
Succeeded by	Kyriakos Varvaresos
Minister of National Defense
In office 21 August – 9 September 1950
Monarch	Paul
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Philippos Manoulidis
Succeeded by	Konstantinos Rendis
In office 10 April – 24 July 1952
Monarch	Paul
Prime Minister	Nikolaos Plastiras
Preceded by	Alexandros Sakellariou
Succeeded by	Georgios Mavros
Personal details
Born	3 November 1894 Chania, Vilayet of Crete, Ottoman Empire (present-day Greece)
Died	7 February 1964 (aged 69) on board SS Hellas, Aegean Sea
Political party	Liberal Party Centre Union
Relations	Kyriakos Venizelos (brother) Nikitas Venizelos (nephew) Konstantinos Mitsotakis (nephew) Dora Bakoyannis (great-niece) Alexandra Mitsotaki (great-niece) Kyriakos Mitsotakis (great-nephew)
Children	Despina Venizelou-Laskari
Parent(s)	Eleftherios Venizelos Maria Katelouzou
Alma mater	Hellenic Army Academy
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Branch/service	Hellenic Army
Years of service	1911-1920
Rank	Captain
Battles/wars	World War I Macedonian Front Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)

Sofoklis^[a] Venizelos (Greek: Σοφοκλής Βενιζέλος; 3 November 1894 – 7 February 1964) was a Greek politician who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece: in 1944 (in exile), 1950 and 1950–1951.

Venizelos was born on 3 November 1894 in Chania, in Crete (then a part of the Ottoman Empire; became an autonomous state under Ottoman suzerainty and the protection of Russia, Britain, France and Italy in 1898). He was the second-born son of the politician Eleftherios Venizelos.

During World War I he served with distinction in the Hellenic Army and in the initial phases of the Asia Minor campaign, reaching the rank of CaptainofInfantry.

He resigned from the Army and was elected as an MP with his father's Liberal Party in the 1920 elections.

In 1941, after the Axis occupation of Greece, he became ambassador to the United States, representing the Greek government in exile based in Cairo. He became a minister of that government in 1943 under Prime Minister Emmanuel Tsuderos, and briefly its Prime Minister in 1944 (April 13–26).

After the end of the war, he returned to Greece; where he became Vice President of the Liberal Party (led by Themistoklis Sofoulis) and a minister in the first post-war government led by Georgios Papandreou.

In 1948 he assumed the leadership of the party and became a minister in a number of short-lived liberal governments led by Papandreou and Nikolaos Plastiras; he was also the Prime Minister of three such governments.

In 1954 his longtime friendship with Georgios Papandreou was shaken, and he formed the rival Liberal Democratic Union [el] coalition.

The rift was bridged in 1958, and in 1961 he became a founding member of Papandreou's Center Union party, which he served until his death in 1964.

On 6th February 1964 at evening he had given a pre-election speech in Chania. There he had felt unwell which he overcame. Later he boarded the passenger ship Hellas in the Aegean Sea, en route from Chania to PiraeusorSyros. In the cabin he felt discomfort and had shortness of breath. His attending physician diagnosed acute pulmonary edema. Venizelos died at 01:05 on 7 February. The ship returned to Souda. His funeral took place on Sunday February 9 in Chania, in the presence of Crown Prince Constantine (who represented the ailing King Paul), Prime Minister Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, Georgios Papandreou, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Spyros Markezinis and Nicolas Kitsikis. Venizelos was buried next to his father, Eleftherios Venizelos.^[1] His wife Kathleen died in 1983 aged 86. In his honor, the shipping company ANEK Lines named one of its ferries after him.

Venizelos was a contract bridge player "of international stature" during the 1930s, as a voluntary exile in France.^[2] He played for France in the European IBL Championships (later incorporated in the history of present-day European Bridge League championships).^[3] France won the 1935 tournament and a version of the team^[b] traveled to New York City late that year for a match against the Four Aces, "an unofficial world championship match" that the Aces won.^[2]

Venizelos was second in skill to Pierre Albarran among contemporary French players, according to Alan Truscott. Beside the national teams at contract bridge, they both played on a 1933 team that hosted an American foursome led by Ely Culbertson in a long match at "plafond, the French parent of contract bridge, which differed only in the scoring details."^[2] The two teams played 102 deals to a draw;^[2] Albarran and Venizelos cooperated on a book reporting and analysing the match:

• Les 102 donnes d'un grand match, by Pierre Albarran, Adrien Aron, and Venizelos, preface by Ely Culbertson (Éditions Grasset, 1933), 188 pp., LCCN 33-38010

Albarran, Aron, and Venizelos were three of six players on the 1935 European champion team.^[4][b]

• "International record for Sophocles Venizelos". World Bridge Federation.
• Sophocles VenizelosatLibrary of Congress, with 1 library catalogue records