I.K. Mazarakis-Ainian, military man and historian, dies

Ioannis K. Mazarakis-Ainian, general secretary, since 1979, of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, which operates the National Historical Museum, died Friday at the age of 97, the Museum posted on its Facebook account.

According to the post, “I.K. Mazarakis-Ainian was born in Athens in 1923. During the (1941-44) Occupation, he was part of the sea information network of the Middle East Headquarters and fought as a volunteer with the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade. He graduated from the Military Academy in 1947. He was prefect of Kastoria from 1962 until he resigned in April 1967 (upon the coup d’ etat that ushered in the military regime). In 1977-79, during the negotiations for Greece’s entry into the EEC, he was head of the Greek press office in Brussels. General Secretary of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece (National Historical Museum) since 1979, he was a prolific writer on modern Greek history.”

Mazarakis-Ainian’s father, Konstantinos, was himself a military officer who distinguished himself in the Macedonian Struggle of the early 20th century, leading a guerrilla band under the nom de guerre Kapetan Akritas and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.