Tombs of Venizelos - Chania, Akrotiri, Crete, Greece - Out of Place Graves on Waymarking.com

The location for the Tombs of Venizelos was suggested by Eleftherios Venizelos on a site overlooking the city of Chania. His body was brought here after his death in Paris in 1936. In 1965 the tomb of his son Sophocles Venizelos was added to the site. The tombs are connected by a paved area and are facing each other.

Eleftherios Venizelos was a leader of the Greek independence from occupation by the Ottoman Empire. He then influenced the expansion of Greece. He achieved autonomy of the Cretan State and later achieved the union of Crete with Greece. As a political leader he promoted liberal-democratic policies as was the leader of the Greek Liberal Party.

Eleftherios Venizelos was elected eight times as Prime Minister of Greece. He served two non-consecutive spans from 1910 to 1920 and again from 1928 to 1933. His was the most influential person in developing Greece as a modern country. Because of his initiation of constitutional and economic reforms he is known as the "the maker of modern Greece".

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Sophocles Venizelos was the second-born son of "the father of modern Greece" Eleftherios Venizelos. He was born in Chania on November 3, 1894. During World War I he served as a Captain in the the Greek Army until he was elected to the Greek parliament as a member of his father's Liberal Party.

During World War II he became the Ambassador to the United States in 1941, representing the occupied Greek government in exile. He became a minister of the government in exile in 1943 and served briefly as Prime Minister from April 13 – 26 1944. At the end of World War II he served as Vice President of the Liberal Party and a minister in the first post-war government under Georgios Papandreou. In 1950 he once again served as Prime Minister of Greece from March 23 - April 15 1950 under Georgios Papandreou and again from Aug 21, 1950 to November 1, 1951 under Nikolaos Plastiras.

In 1961 he became a founding member of Papandreou's Center Union party, which he served until his death in 1964 which occurred while on a ferry from Piraeus to Chania. He is buried alog with his father in a hillside park in Akrotiri, Crete, Greece

First Name: Eleftherios & Sophocles Last Name: Venizelos Born: 08/23/1864 Died: 03/18/1936

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/09/2023 endeavour3 visited it