Sofoklis Dousmanis

Who was Sofoklis Dousmanis?

Sofoklis Dousmanis was a Greek naval officer. Distinguished in the Balkan Wars, he became twice the chief of the Greek Navy General Staff, and occupied the post of Navy Minister in 1935.

Sofoklis Dousmanis was born in Corfu in 1868, a descendant of the Albanian origins Dushmani family, grandson of Antonio Dusmani and brother of Viktor Dousmanis. He graduated from the Hellenic Naval Academy in 1888. He was a very capable officer, with royalist convictions. Ranked Commander, he served as chief of staff for the Naval Exercises Squadron in 1910, and as Director of the Administrative Section of the Royal Navy General Staff in 1912. Upon the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912, he was appointed captain of the fleet's flagship, the new cruiser Georgios Averof, as well as chief of staff for the Aegean Fleet under Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis. In this capacity he participated in the two victorious naval battles of Elli and Lemnos.

He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1914 in recognition of his services and was appointed Commander of the Battleships Squadron. In June 1915, Dousmanis succeeded Kountouriotis as chief of the Navy General Staff. As a committed royalist, he chose the side of King Constantine I in the National Schism. As a result, when the King's opponent, Eleftherios Venizelos imposed his authority on the entire country in June 1917, Dousmanis was dismissed and sent to internal exile in Santorini. After the Venizelist electoral defeat in 1920 and the return of King Constantine, he was recalled to active service and served as Chief of the Aegean Fleet and again Chief of the Royal Navy General Staff. He retired with the rank of Vice Admiral in January 1923.