Alexandros Koryzis
Greek politician (1885-1941)
Alexandros Koryzis (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Κορυζής; 1885 – 18 April 1941) was a Greek politician who served briefly as the prime minister of Greece in 1941.
Career
Koryzis assumed this role on 29 January 1941, when his predecessor, the dictator Ioannis Metaxas died of throat cancer, during the Greco-Italian War. Prior to this, Koryzis had been governor of the Bank of Greece.
Koryzis was born on the small island of Poros in Greece, where a museum dedicated to his life and contribution exists today.
Prime Minister Metaxas had declined British offers of direct military assistance on the grounds that this could be used as a justification for German intervention in support of their Italian allies. Koryzis however agreed to the dispatch of "W Force" - a British and Dominion force of two infantry divisions and an armoured brigade.
Although largely powerless, as the government was effectively controlled by King George II, Koryzis still bore the burden of the German invasion which commenced on 6 April of the same year. Less than two weeks later, on 18 April, as German troops marched towards Athens and the city was placed under martial law, he shot himself. According to Theodore Stephanides, who was in Crete at the time, newspapers initially reported that the cause of his death was a heart attack, likely to avoid causing mass panic in Athens.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Alexandros Koryzis” as greek politician (1885-1941). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as greek politician (1885-1941). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q707214. VIAF identifies the subject as 316450042. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1885 and 1941.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Alexandros Koryzis”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Alexandros Koryzis primary sources, Alexandros Koryzis archive and Alexandros research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Alexandros Koryzis”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Alexandros Koryzis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.