Stylianos Pattakos (Greek: Στυλιανός Παττακός; 8 November 1912 – 8 October 2016) was an officer of the Hellenic Army who was one of the principal leaders of the 1967 Greek coup d'état, along with Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos, and Colonel Nikolaos Makarezos. Together they overthrew Prime Minister Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and established a military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 until 1973. He served as Deputy Prime Minister (1967–1973) and Minister of the Interior (1967–1971).
Stylianos Pattakos was born on 8 November 1912, in Agia Paraskevi, Rethymno. His parents were farmers. He studied at the Hellenic Military Academy and graduated in 1937. He served as a Lieutenant during the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941) and as cavalry captain and cavalry major during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). He was a deeply religious man.
Pattakos eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier and was assigned to the tank training centre at Goudi in Athens.
He, along with Georgios Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Makarezos, planned and executed the coup on the night of April 20 to April 21, 1967, claiming political anomaly had made them do so. Many leading politicians and journalists were arrested that night and were led to a hotel in Pikermi. Among them were Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Andreas Papandreou, Georgios Rallis, Manolis Glezos. Pattakos was assigned the Ministry of the Interior. He became also the vice president of Kollias government. As head of that post, Pattakos made the decision to strip Greek actress and political activist, Melina Mercouri, of her Greek citizenship and to also confiscate her property. Mercouri retorted "I was born Greek. I will die Greek. Mr. Pattakos was born a fascist. He will die a fascist". On 25 November 1973, Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannides overthrew Papadopoulos. The following year, the 7-year Junta came to an end in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
The newly restored democratic government of Konstantinos Karamanlis put the junta officials on trial with charges of high treason and insurrection against Georgios Papadopoulos and other co-conspirators. Pattakos, along with the other leaders of the 1967 coup, Papadopoulos and Makarezos, were sentenced to death for high treason, following the trial. Shortly after the sentences were pronounced, they were commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government. Pattakos spent 17 years in prison. He was released from prison on 28 September 1990 by a judicial council, pursuant to article 557 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which provides for the suspension of the sentence for irreversible health damage (Greek: ανήκεστος βλάβη) and was put under house arrest. He was obliged to report to the police office for registration every 15 days. He later stated that he did not regret any of his actions during the dictatorship. In addition, he denied that people were tortured during the dictatorship, except Alekos Panagoulis and Spyros Moustaklis, who "had it coming".
Personal life, death and funeral
Pattakos married Dimitra Nikolaidou in 1940, and they had two daughters, Roza (b. 1946), and Rena (b. 1949). Dimitra died of a heart attack on 10 February 2013, at age 90. Pattakos was taken to a hospital two days later, due to a health problem he suffered after his wife's death, but he recovered and allowed to return home the same day.
The loss of his wife cost him dearly, to the point he had stopped eating and wanted to end his life. In the last years of his life, his health had been seriously failing to the point he was bedridden, blind, and also broke, while since 2010 he had been using a pacemaker.
Pattakos died of a stroke in his sleep at his home in the Patisia neighborhood of Athens, on 8 October 2016, at age 103. Two days earlier, three unknown guys who had their faces covered, broke down the door of his home, and after immobilizing his home nurse, they stole jewelry, collectible coins, and many of his military medals. However, he didn't notice the incident, because he was sleeping.
His body arrived with a ship in Souda, on 11 October 2016, and was transported to his birthplace, Agia Paraskevi, Rethymno, where he was buried the same day at the Church of Saint Paraskevi. The funeral was attended by Golden Dawn MPs Konstantinos Barbarousis, Christos Pappas, and other members of the party.
Media related to Stylianos Pattakos at Wikimedia Commons