1864-1936. Greek politician born in Crete,
leader of the Cretan movement against Turkish
rule until the union of the island with
Greece in 1905. He later became prime
minister of the Greek state on five
occasions, 1910-15, 1917-20, 1924, 1928-32
and 1933, before being exiled to France in
1935. Having led the fight against Turkish
rule in Crete, Venizelos became president of
the Cretan assembly and declared the union of
the island with Greece in 1905. As prime
minister of Greece from 1910, he instituted
financial, military, and constitutional
reforms and took Greece into the Balkan Wars.
As a result, Greece annexed Macedonia, but
attempts by Venizelos to join the war on the
allied side led to his dismissal by King
Constantine. Leading a rebel government in
Crete and later in Salonika, he declared war
on Bulgaria and Germany and secured the
abdication of King Constantine. As prime
minister from 1917 he attended the Paris
Peace Conference in 1919. By provoking a war
with Turkey over Anatolia in 1920 he suffered
an electoral defeat. On his last return to
office in 1933, he was implicated in an
uprising by his supporters and fled to
France, where he died.