About the family Filias

Georgios Vassiliou Filias, also called Papavassiliou, uncle of Vassilis Filias, brother of his father Ioannis Filias

Chemist and influential officer of the interwar period:

  • Responsible for the reorganisation of the Greek artillery after the Asia Minor disaster of 1922.
  • Georgios Filias organised the Chemical Warfare School and wrote a manual for officers in training.
  • He participated in the planning of the armouring of the fortifications of the Metaxas Line and in the elaboration of the firing plan for its defence.
  • As Chief of the 6th Bureau of the General Staff, he planned and organised the civil mobilisation of the country in case of war.
  • Georgios Filias was a member of the main missions for the procurement of war material of all categories from abroad.
  • As a senior officer, he was responsible for sinking the two destroyers that were conducting a diversionary manoeuvre behind the Italian lines at the beginning of the Greek-Italian War. With his decisions, he contributed significantly to the success of the operation.
  • After the collapse of the front and the occupation of Greece by the Axis powers, he ensured that American war material destined for the Albanian front was made available to the Greek forces in Egypt and the Middle East. He managed to override strong opposition from the British.
  • In 1992, at the age of 95, he wrote his autobiography: “Hopes – Enthusiasm, Pains & Disappointments” (Ελπίδες – ενθουσιασμοί, πόνοι & απογοητεύσεις).

Hopes – Enthusiasm, Pains & Disappointments

The scientific and historical records of Vassilis Filias are kept in the archives of the Benaki Museum in Athens.

For more information on the family of Vassilis Filias please see the homepage fanarioton27.org and a film documentary in the ERT archives (Ελληνική Ραδιοφωνία Τηλεόραση: Greek Radio Television) https://archive.ert.gr/73098/.