Alexandros Mazarakis - Ainian Alexandros Mazarakis - Ainian ( , 1874 – 1943 ) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General . He served thrice as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff , occupied ministerial positions and was elected a member of the Academy of Athens for his historical studies . Life . Alexandros Mazarakis - Ainian was born in Athens in 1874 . He entered the Hellenic Army Academy in 1890 and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Artillery on 30 June 1895 . He participated in the Greco - Turkish War of 1897 commanding an artillery battery , and served for three years in the newly founded Geographical Service . In 1905 , during the Greek Struggle for Macedonia against the Bulgarian - sponsored Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( IMRO ) , he was attached to the Greek Consulate - General in Thessaloniki under the cover name Ioannidis . He served there for three and a half years , until the end of the Struggle in 1908 . In 1906 he was promoted to Lieutenant . After returning from Macedonia , he came first in a contest for further studies in the " École Supérieure de Guerre " in France . In the Balkan Wars he served as a staff officer in the 7th Infantry Division . In 1914 he was promoted to Major and became Chief of Staff of the 5th Infantry Division at Drama . In September 1916 he joined the Venizelist Movement of National Defence in Thessaloniki . Promoted to Lt . Colonel and full Colonel , he served in various General Staff departments during World War I . He then accompanied Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos as a military expert to the Paris Peace Conference , and prepared ethnological and military studies to support the Greek claims . He returned to Greece in July 1919 , and assumed command of the Smyrna Division in Asia Minor . In 1920 he was promoted to Major General , and led his division to the capture of Balıkesir and in the advance towards Bursa during the Greek summer offensive . From there he and his division were recalled to be used in a landing operation in support of the occupation of Eastern Thrace : Mazarakis commanded the landings of troops ferried from Asia at Ereğli and Rodosto , and thence advanced north . After overcoming Turkish resistance at Lule Burgas , Babaeski and Çorlu and capturing the local Turkish commander , Cafer Tayyar , his units reached Adrianople . Returning to Asia , he led his division to new positions around Bursa , and commanded a series of raids against Turkish territory . Following the Venizelist defeat in the November 1920 elections , he resigned his commission . In 1921 he published a series of articles criticizing the new government ' s conduct of the war in Asia Minor , recommending the stabilization and fortification of the then - held lines instead of an advance into the interior of Turkey . Following the Greek defeat and retreat from Asia in August 1922 , he was appointed Greek representative at the armistice negotiations at Mudanya , but initially refused to sign the Armistice of Mudanya when it was revealed that Greece would have to evacuate Eastern Thrace . He was subsequently recalled to active service and placed as Chief of Staff of the Army of the Evros in Western Thrace , and then participated in the Greek mission to Conference of Lausanne as a military adviser . In 1924 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and appointed Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff , beginning the process for its reorganization and re - equipment following the Asia Minor Disaster . He was dismissed from his position following the coup d ' état of general Theodoros Pangalos in June 1925 , but was reinstated in September 1926 , following the overthrow of the Pangalos dictatorship . He served as Minister for Military Affairs in the 1926 – 1928 Alexandros Zaimis cabinets , and was elected as a member of the Academy of Athens in September 1928 . He was appointed as Inspector General of Military Schools in March 1929 and soon after again as Chief of the Army General Staff , occupying the post until June 1931 . In the March 1933 emergency cabinet of Lt . General Alexandros Othonaios , Mazarakis occupied the portfolio of National Education , as well as , as interim holder , of Foreign Affairs ( 6 / 7 March ) and Aviation ( 9 / 10 March ) . In 1935 , following the outbreak of a pro - Venizelist coup attempt , he was suspended from active service , and finally retired in 1937 due to the age limit . In the same year , he served as president of the Academy of Athens . Mazarakis died in Athens in 1943 . He was married but childless .