General stylianos pattakos biography

Stylianos Pattakos, the last surviving leader of the 21 April coup that imposed a seven-year military dictatorship in Greece, died from a stroke in his Athens home on October 8, one month before his th birthday. Brigadier-General Pattakos was one of the three masterminds of the coup, alongside Colonels Giorgos Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Makarezos.

Under his watch, 87, people were arrested without charge and tortured while in custody, and 10, political prisoners were rounded up and incarcerated, many on the concentration camp on the island of Gyaros. At least 22 people died while in custody due to torture, while many others died of their injuries after being released. The regime carried out targeted assassinations of nearly people, while around 4, were tried by court martial.

Pattakos defended the crimes of the junta of the colonels to the end.

General stylianos pattakos biography: Stylianos G. Pattakos was a Greek

One high-profile case was that of Major Spiros Moustaklis, an Army officer arrested in May as a member of an anti-junta conspiracy led by naval officers. Moustaklis was detained for 47 days and repeatedly tortured, resulting in paralysis and loss of speech. Nonetheless, though Pattakos was tried and convicted of horrific crimes as a leader of the infamous junta of the colonels, the reactionary policies of Greek Stalinism and of Syriza the Coalition of the Radical Left ultimately allowed him to return to political life.

He again emerged as a leader of the Greek far right, this time in a symbolic and journalistic capacity. Pattakos was born on November 8, on the island of Crete to a farming family in the small village of Ayia Paraskevi. He graduated from the Evelpidon Military academy in with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry.