Georgios Papandreou Georgios Papandreou ( – " Geórgios Papandréou " ; 13 February 1888 in Kalentzi – 1 November 1968 in Athens ) was a Greek politician , the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty . He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece ( 1944 – 1945 , 1963 , 1964 – 1965 ) . He was also Deputy Prime Minister from 1950 – 1952 , in the governments of Nikolaos Plastiras and Sofoklis Venizelos and served numerous times as a Cabinet Minister , starting in 1923 , in a political career that spanned more than five decades . Early life . He was born at Kalentzi , in Achaea in West Greece . He was the son of Father Andreas , an Orthodox archpriest ( protopresvyteros ) . He studied Law in Athens and Political Science in Berlin . His political philosophy was heavily influenced by German social democracy . As a result , he was adamantly opposed to the monarchy and supported generous social policies , but he was also extremely anti - communist ( and specifically against the KKE ' s policies in Greece ) . As a young man , he became involved in politics as a supporter of the Liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos , who made him Governor of Chios after the Balkan War of 1912 . He married twice . His first wife was Sofia Mineyko , a Polish national , and their son Andreas Papandreou was born in Chios in 1919 . The second wife was the actress Cybele Andrianou . They had a son Georgios G . Papandreou . Political career . During the political crisis surrounding Greece ' s entry into World War I , Papandreou was one of Venizelos ' s closest supporters against the pro - German King Constantine I . When Venizelos was forced to flee Athens , Papandreou accompanied him to Crete , and then went to Lesbos , where he mobilised anti - monarchist supporters in the islands and rallied support for Venizelos ' s insurgent pro - British government in Thessaloniki . In 1921 he narrowly escaped assassination from royalist extremists . Papandreou served as a Venizelist Member of Parliament beginning in 1920 , as Interior Minister in 1923 , Finance Minister in 1924 - 1925 , Education Minister in 1929 - 1932 , and Transport Minister in 1933 . As Minister of Education he reformed the Greek school system and built many schools for the children of refugees of the Asia Minor Catastrophe . In 1935 , he set up the Democratic Socialist Party of Greece . A lifelong opponent of the Greek monarchy , he was exiled in 1936 by the Greek royalist dictator Ioannis Metaxas . Following the German occupation of Greece in World War II , he joined the predominantly Venizelist government - in - exile based in Egypt ( with British support , and king George II as official head of state ) , and in 1944 - 1945 he served as Prime Minister . Although he lost the premiership in 1945 , he continued to hold high office . From 1946 - 1952 he served as Labor Minister , Supplies Minister , Education Minister , Finance Minister and Public Order Minister . In 1950 - 1952 , he was also Deputy Prime Minister . The 1952 - 1961 period was a very difficult one for Papandreou . The liberal political forces in Greece were gravely weakened by internal disputes and suffered electoral defeat from the conservatives . Papandreou continuously accused Sofoklis Venizelos for these maladies , considering his leadership dour and uninspiring . In 1961 , Papandreou revived Greek liberalism by founding the Center Union Party , a confederation of old liberal Venizelists and dissatisfied conservatives . After the elections of " violence and fraud " of 1961 , Papandreou declared a " Relentless Struggle " against the right - wing ERE . His party won the elections of November 1963 and those of 1964 , the second with a landslide majority . His progressive policies as premier aroused much opposition in conservative circles , as did the prominent role played by his son Andreas Papandreou , whose policies were seen as being considerably left of center . Andreas disagreed with his father on many important issues , and developed a network of political organizations , the Democratic Leagues ( " Dimokratikoi Syndesmoi " ) to lobby for more progressive policies . He also managed to take control of the Center Union ' s youth organization , EDIN . He opposed the Zürich and London Agreement which led to the foundation of the Republic of Cyprus . Following clashes between the Greek and Turkish communities , his government sent a Greek army division to the island . King Constantine II openly opposed Papandreou ' s government and there were frequent ultra - rightist plots in the Army which destabilised the government . Finally the King engineered a split in the Centre Union and in July 1965 , known as " apostasia " or " Iouliana " he dismissed the government following a dispute over control of the Ministry of Defence . After the April 1967 military coup by the Colonels ' junta led by George Papadopoulos , Papandreou was arrested . Papandreou died under house arrest in November 1968 . His funeral became the occasion for a massive anti - dictatorship demonstration . He is interred at the First Cemetery of Athens , alongside his son Andreas . During the Junta and after his death he was often referred to affectionately as " ο Γέρος της δημοκρατίας " ( " o Géros tis dimokratías " ) — " the old man of democracy " . Since his grandson George A . Papandreou entered politics , most Greek writers use Γεώργιος ( " Geórgios " ) to refer to the grandfather and the less formal Γιώργος ( " Giórgos " ) to refer to the grandson . In 1965 , the University of Belgrade awarded him an honorary doctorate .