Distinguished journalist, historian, and author Giorgos Sarris is the guest on Voice of Greece and the program “Remarkable Personalities” with Stavroula Karali, on Wednesday, 8 October 2025, at 22:00 Athens time.
Mr. Sarris takes listeners through the dark chapters of Greece’s modern political history, revisiting the assassinations that left a lasting mark on the 19th and 20th centuries.
In the first part of the program, he sheds light on the assassination of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Governor of Greece, inside the Church of Saint Spyridon in Nafplio, on 27 September 1831. He explores the historical backdrop of the period, the complex ties between Kapodistrias and Petrobey Mavromichalis, and the motives and circumstances that led to the Governor’s tragic death.
The discussion continues with the murder of Theodoros Diligiannis, then Prime Minister of Greece, outside the Hellenic Parliament on 31 March 1905. A staunch opponent of gambling clubs, Deligiannis had closed them down by law. His assassin was a gambler and doorman at one such club, but the trial that followed revealed the darker involvement of his employer.
The episode concludes with the assassination of King George I in Thessaloniki, on 18 March 1913. Mr. Sarris reconstructs the killing in vivid detail and links it to a mysterious steamship fire that broke out a year later, as well as to a chain of coincidences that led to the suicide of the King’s murderer.
* Before signing off, Mr. Sarris invites listeners to tune in again next week – same time, same place – for the second part of his historical exploration, focusing on the political assassinations of Ion Dragoumis, Grigoris Lambrakis, and Pavlos Bakoyannis.
Produced and presented by Stavroula Karali
Broadcast: Wednesday, 8 October 2025, 22:00–23:00 (Athens time)
