1947

Events

January

• January 19: The "S.S. Chimara" sinks in the Euboic Sea. Casualties number: 400 dead, among them 200 policemen and 36 political prisoners.
• January 25: Dimitrios Maximos forms an all-inclusive government with political opponents Sophoklis Venizelos and Konstantinos Tsaldaris serving as his two vice-presidents
• January 29: The United Nations establish a committee to investigate the allegations of Greece that her northern neighbours are intervening in the Civil War.

February

• February 10: The Treaty of Paris awards the Dodecanese Islands to Greece.
• February 18: Anton Christoforidis fights his last bout against Anton Raadik. He loses by unanimous decision.

March

• March 12: The Truman Doctrine is announced making aid available to the Greek government.
• March 20: Yiannis Zevgos, a communist former Minister of Agriculture, is slain by right-wing extremists in Thessaloniki.
• March 31: Brig Gen A.S. Parker transfers military command of the Dodecanese islands to Vice Admiral Pericles Ioannidis of the Hellenic Navy.

April

• April 1: King George II of Greece dies suddenly of a heart attack. He is succeeded by his brother King Paul.

June

• June 5: The Marshall Plan is announced to help Greece - as well as Turkey - in the struggle against Communism.

August

• August 3: Maria Callas makes her first impressive appearance in the arena of Verona with "La Gioconda" by Ponchielli.

September

• September 24: Cyprus Airways is established as a joint venture between the colonial Government of Cyprus, BEA and private interests.

October

• October 6: A major earthquake (7.0 on the Richter scale) strikes Messinia prefecture.

November

• November 7: 85-year old Themistoklis Sofoulis forms a government incorporating elements of both the Liberal and Popular parties.
• November 20: In a lavish wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, Princess Elizabeth marries her distant cousin, Philip Mountbatten, a dashing former prince of Greece and Denmark who renounced his titles in order to marry the English princess.
• November 29: Greece votes against the partition of Palestine. The resolution, however, passes in the UN by 33 to 13 with 10 abstentions.

December

• December 24: The "Provisional Democratic Government" is set up, during the Greek Civil War, by the Communist Party of Greece with Markos Vafiadis as Prime Minister.
• December 24: Metropolitan Makarios of Kyrenia is elected Archbishop of Cyprus. (He is the predecessor of Makarios III).
• December 27: A law is passed by the Centrist Sophoklis Venizelos government outlawing the Communist Party of Greece and the National Liberation Front (EAM). Furthermore, the law criminalises the teaching and spreading of Communism and forbids the publication of any communist newspaper or magazine.

Births

January

• January 14: Maria Farantouri, singer.
• January 27: Vyron Polydoras, politician
• January 31: Elena Nathanail, actress

February

• February 4: Apostolos Glezos, footballer.
• February 21: Olympia Snowe, Greek-American politician.

March

• March 4: Totis Fylakouris, footballer

April

• April 13: Thanos Mikroutsikos, composer

June

• June 27: Vasilis Papageorgopoulos, athlete, mayor of Thessaloniki

August

• August 11: Georgios Karatzaferis, politician

October

• October 25 : Thanasis Gaifilias, musician

December

• December 27: Thanasis Polykandriotis, composer of Laika music¨

Deaths

April

• April 1: King George II of Greece

May

• May 9: Evripidis Bakirtzis, Prime Minister of the "free areas of Greece" during the Axis occupation.
• May 20: Giorgos Siantos, Communist leader