Mihail Melas was a Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 politician and merchant, who served as Mayor of Athens in 1891–1894.

Biography

He was born in Syros

Syros

Syros , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is located south-east of Athens. The area of the island is . The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano Syros, and Vari. Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and the Cyclades...

, the son of Georgios Melas, a member of the Filiki Eteria

Filiki Eteria

thumb|right|200px|The flag of the Filiki Eteria.Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends was a secret 19th century organization, whose purpose was to overthrow Ottoman rule over Greece and to establish an independent Greek state. Society members were mainly young Phanariot Greeks from Russia and local...

and the scion of a distinguished Epirote family. He studied law in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and became involved with commerce at an early age, importing Russian wheat to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and Marseilles. From these activities he amassed a large fortune.

In 1874, Melas settled permanently in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, where he soon achieved a distinguished place among Athenian high society. He played a crucial role in the foundation of the Athens Club in 1875, the Greek capital's oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's club

Gentlemen's club

A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...

, and served as its president in 1882–86 and 1888–97. In 1890, he was elected to the Greek Parliament for Attica

Attica

Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

. He became mayor of Athens in 1891, holding the office until 1894, after an unsuccessful first attempt in 1883, when he lost to Dimitrios Soutsos

Dimitrios Soutsos

Dimitrios Soutsos was the mayor of Athens between 1879 and 1887.-Biography:He was the son of Skarlatos Soutsos, a descendant of the distinguished Phanariot Soutzos family who became a Major General in the Greek Army, and of Elpida Kantakouzinou, daughter of the Phanariot magnate Alexandros...

. Melas also served in the founding board of the Hellenic Red Cross

Hellenic Red Cross

The Hellenic Red Cross is the Greek national Red Cross Society, founded on 10 June 1877.-External links:...

, and as chairman of the Ethniki Etaireia, a secret nationalist society, which played a major role in the outbreak of the disastrous Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Melas is also notable as one of the first Athenians to build a house in Kifissia

Kifissia

Kifissia or Kifisia is one of the most expensive northern suburbs of Athens, mainly accessed via Kifissias Avenue, running all the way from central Athens up to Theseos Avenue in the suburb of Nea Erythraia. It has traditionally been home to the major Greek political families...

, then a suburban summer resort for the capital's wealthy families. He was also an avid art collector, and during his stay in Marseilles, he chaired the local French Cultural Club for several years. In 1886–88 he served as president of the Filekpaideftiki Etaireia ("Learned Society", a charitable educational society founded in 1836).

Family

He was married with Eleni Voutsina and had seven children: Maria, wife of Ektoras Romanos, chamberlain of Prince Nicholas of Greece; Anna, wife of the landowner Apostolos Papadopoulos; Georgios (1866–1931) a judge and private secretary of King Constantine I

Constantine I of Greece

Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...

; Pavlos

Pavlos Melas

Pavlos Melas was an officer of the Hellenic Army, and he was among the first who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia....

 (1870–1904), an Army

Hellenic Army

The Hellenic Army , formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece.The motto of the Hellenic Army is , "Freedom Stems from Valor", from Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War...

 officer and hero of the Macedonian Struggle

Macedonian Struggle

The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts between Greeks and Bulgarians in the region of Ottoman Macedonia between 1904 and 1908...

; Leon (1872–1905), a lawyer and politician; Konstantinos Melas (1874–1953), a Navy

Hellenic Navy

The Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence...

 officer and politician; and Vassilios (1879–1956), a General and also president of the Athens Club.