John Passalides

Passalides, John

 

(Ioannes Pasalides). Born 1885 in Sukhumi; died Mar. 14, 1968, in Thessaloniki (Salonika). Greek politician.

After graduating from the department of medicine of St. Petersburg University in 1910, Passalides returned to Sukhumi, where he worked as a doctor. In 1922 he emigrated to Greece and settled in Thessaloniki. During the fascist occupation of Greece (1941–44), he took part in the resistance movement as a member of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front.

After the liberation of Greece, Passalides headed the Socialist Party, which he had founded in the 1920’s, and struggled for the development of democracy in Greece. He was a founder (1951) and chairman of the United Democratic Left Party. From 1923 to 1925 and again from 1951 to 1967, he was a deputy in the Greek parliament. After the coup d’etat of Apr. 21, 1967, he was placed under arrest by the military dictatorship.