Eleftherios Venizelos Historical Museum

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Historians disagree on the exact ancestry of Venizelos. Chester and Kerofilas, contemporary historians and Venizelos' biographers, stated that the 18th century ancestors of Venizelos, under the surname of Cravvatas, lived in Mystras, in southern Peloponnese. In the Ottoman raids in the peninsula in 1770, a member of the Cravvatas family (Venizelos Cravvatas), the youngest of several brothers, managed to escape and established himself in Crete. His sons abandoned the patronymic name and called themselves Venizelos instead. However, during the National Schism, politician Konstantinos Krevattas denied that his family had any relation to Venizelos. In a letter to a Cretan partner, Venizelos wrote that his father Kyriakos had taken part in the siege of Monemvasia in 1821 with his brother Hatzinikolos Venizelos and three more brothers, suggesting that his grandfather probably was Hatzipetros Venizelos, a merchant from Kythira. Michael Llewellyn-Smith stated in a 2022 biography that Venizelos' father was "born in Crete, in or around 1810, to a family from the Peloponnese." Venizelos' mother, Styliani Ploumidakis, descended from the village of Theriso in Crete, from a well-respected family partly because it was (distant) related to a prominent 1821 revolution general Vasilios Chalis.

On 23 August [ O.S. 11 August] 1864, Venizelos was born in Mournies, near Chania (formerly known as Canea) in then Ottoman Crete, to Kyriakos Venizelos, a Cretan merchant and revolutionary, and Styliani Ploumidaki. When the Cretan revolution of 1866 broke out, Venizelos' family fled to the island of Kythira due to the participation of his father in the revolution. After three years and the revolt ended, the family of Venizelos moved to the island of Syros. They were not allowed to return to Crete and stayed in Syros until 1872, when Abdülaziz granted an amnesty.

He spent his final year of secondary education at a school in Ermoupolis, the principal town of Syros, from which he received his certificate in 1880. In 1881, he enrolled at the University of Athens Law School and got his degree in Law with excellent grades. He returned to Crete in 1886 and worked as a lawyer in Chania. Throughout his life, he maintained a passion for reading and was constantly improving his skills in English, Italian, German, and French.

In December 1891, Venizelos married Maria Katelouzou, daughter of Eleftherios Katelouzos. The newlyweds lived on the upper floor of the Chalepa house, while Venizelos' mother and his brother and sisters lived on the ground floor. There, they enjoyed the happy moments of their marriage and also had the birth of their two children, Kyriakos Venizelos [ el ] in 1892 and Sofoklis in 1894. Their married life was short and marked by misfortune. Maria died of post-puerperal fever in November 1894 after the birth of their second child. Her death deeply affected Venizelos, and as a sign of mourning, he grew his characteristic beard and mustache, which he retained for the rest of his life.

After his defeat in the November elections of 1920, he left for Nice and Paris in self-imposed exile. In September 1921, twenty-seven years after the death of his first wife, Maria, he married Helena Schilizzi (sometimes referred to as Elena Skylitsi or Stephanovich) in London. Advised by police to be wary of assassination attempts, they held the religious ceremony in private at Witanhurst, the mansion of a family friend and socialite Lady Domini Crosfield. The Crosfields were well connected and Venizelos met Arthur Balfour, David Lloyd George and the arms dealer Basil Zaharoff in subsequent visits to the house. [ citation needed ]

The married couple settled down in Paris in a flat at 22 rue Beaujon. [ clarification needed ] He lived there until 1927, when he returned to Chania.

Historians disagree on the exact ancestry of Venizelos. Chester and Kerofilas, contemporary historians and Venizelos' biographers, stated that the 18th century ancestors of Venizelos, under the surname of Cravvatas, lived in Mystras, in southern Peloponnese. In the Ottoman raids in the peninsula in 1770, a member of the Cravvatas family (Venizelos Cravvatas), the youngest of several brothers, managed to escape and established himself in Crete. His sons abandoned the patronymic name and called themselves Venizelos instead. However, during the National Schism, politician Konstantinos Krevattas denied that his family had any relation to Venizelos. In a letter to a Cretan partner, Venizelos wrote that his father Kyriakos had taken part in the siege of Monemvasia in 1821 with his brother Hatzinikolos Venizelos and three more brothers, suggesting that his grandfather probably was Hatzipetros Venizelos, a merchant from Kythira. Michael Llewellyn-Smith stated in a 2022 biography that Venizelos' father was "born in Crete, in or around 1810, to a family from the Peloponnese." Venizelos' mother, Styliani Ploumidakis, descended from the village of Theriso in Crete, from a well-respected family partly because it was (distant) related to a prominent 1821 revolution general Vasilios Chalis.

On 23 August [ O.S. 11 August] 1864, Venizelos was born in Mournies, near Chania (formerly known as Canea) in then Ottoman Crete, to Kyriakos Venizelos, a Cretan merchant and revolutionary, and Styliani Ploumidaki. When the Cretan revolution of 1866 broke out, Venizelos' family fled to the island of Kythira due to the participation of his father in the revolution. After three years and the revolt ended, the family of Venizelos moved to the island of Syros. They were not allowed to return to Crete and stayed in Syros until 1872, when Abdülaziz granted an amnesty.

He spent his final year of secondary education at a school in Ermoupolis, the principal town of Syros, from which he received his certificate in 1880. In 1881, he enrolled at the University of Athens Law School and got his degree in Law with excellent grades. He returned to Crete in 1886 and worked as a lawyer in Chania. Throughout his life, he maintained a passion for reading and was constantly improving his skills in English, Italian, German, and French.

In December 1891, Venizelos married Maria Katelouzou, daughter of Eleftherios Katelouzos. The newlyweds lived on the upper floor of the Chalepa house, while Venizelos' mother and his brother and sisters lived on the ground floor. There, they enjoyed the happy moments of their marriage and also had the birth of their two children, Kyriakos Venizelos [ el ] in 1892 and Sofoklis in 1894. Their married life was short and marked by misfortune. Maria died of post-puerperal fever in November 1894 after the birth of their second child. Her death deeply affected Venizelos, and as a sign of mourning, he grew his characteristic beard and mustache, which he retained for the rest of his life.

After his defeat in the November elections of 1920, he left for Nice and Paris in self-imposed exile. In September 1921, twenty-seven years after the death of his first wife, Maria, he married Helena Schilizzi (sometimes referred to as Elena Skylitsi or Stephanovich) in London. Advised by police to be wary of assassination attempts, they held the religious ceremony in private at Witanhurst, the mansion of a family friend and socialite Lady Domini Crosfield. The Crosfields were well connected and Venizelos met Arthur Balfour, David Lloyd George and the arms dealer Basil Zaharoff in subsequent visits to the house. [ citation needed ]

The married couple settled down in Paris in a flat at 22 rue Beaujon. [ clarification needed ] He lived there until 1927, when he returned to Chania.

See also: History of Crete The situation in Crete during Venizelos' early years was fluid. The Ottoman Empire was undermining the reforms, which were made under international pressure, while the Cretans desired to see the Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, abandon "the ungrateful infidels". Under these unstable conditions, Venizelos entered politics in the elections of 2 April 1889 as a member of the island's liberal party. As a deputy, he was distinguished for his eloquence and radical opinions.

The numerous revolutions in Crete, during and after the Greek War of Independence (1821, 1833, 1841, 1858, 1866, 1878, 1889, 1895, 1897) were the result of the Cretans' desire for enosis — union with Greece. In the Cretan revolution of 1866, the two sides, under the pressure of the Great Powers, came to an agreement, which was finalized in the Pact of Chalepa. [ citation needed ] Later the Pact was included in the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin, which was supplementing previous concessions granted to the Cretans — e.g. the Organic Law Constitution (1868) designed by William James Stillman. In summary, the Pact granted a large degree of self-government to Greeks in Crete as a means of limiting their desire to rise up against their Ottoman overlords. [ citation needed ] However the Muslims of Crete, who identified with Ottoman Empire, were not satisfied with these reforms, as in their view the administration of the island was delivered to the hands of the Christian Greek population. In practice, the Ottoman Empire failed to enforce the provisions of the Pact, thus fueling the existing tensions between the two communities; instead, the Ottoman authorities attempted to maintain order by dispatching substantial military reinforcements during 1880–1896. Throughout that period, the Cretan Question was a major issue of friction in the relations of independent Greece with the Ottoman Empire. [ citation needed ]

In January 1897, violence and disorder escalated on the island, thus polarizing the population. Massacres against the Christian population took place in Chania and Rethimno. The Greek government, pressured by public opinion, intransigent political elements, extreme nationalist groups such as Ethniki Etaireia, and the reluctance of the Great Powers to intervene, decided to send warships and army personnel to defend the Cretan Greeks. The Great Powers had no option then but to proceed with the occupation of the island, but they were late. A Greek force of about 2,000 men had landed at Kolymbari on 3 February 1897, and its commanding officer, Colonel Timoleon Vassos declared that he was taking over the island "in the name of the King of the Hellenes " and that he was announcing the union of Crete with Greece.This led to an uprising that spread immediately throughout the island. The Great Powers decided to blockade Crete with their fleets and land their troops, thus stopping the Greek army from approaching Chania.

Venizelos, at that time, was on an electoral tour of the island. Once he "saw Canea in flames", he hurried to Malaxa, near Chania, where a group of about 2,000 rebels had assembled and established himself as their leader. He proposed an attack, along with other rebels, on the Turkish forces at Akrotiri to displace them from the plains (Malaxa is at a higher altitude). Venizelos' subsequent actions at Akrotiri form a central set-piece in his myth. People composed poems on Akrotiri and his role there; editorials and articles spoke about his bravery, visions, and diplomatic genius as the inevitable accompaniment of later greatness. Venizelos spent the night in Akrotiri and a Greek flag was raised. The Ottoman forces requested help from the foreign admirals and attacked the rebels, with the ships of the Great Powers bombarding the rebel positions at Akrotiri. A shell threw down the flag, which was raised up again immediately. The mythologizing became more pronounced when we come to his actions in that February, as the following quotes display:

On 20th of February [he] was ordered by the admirals to lower the flag and disband his rebel force. He refused!

- Venizelos turned towards the port of Souda, where the warships were anchored, and explained: "You have cannon-balls – fire away! But our flag will not come down"... [after the flag was hit] Venizelos ran forward; his friends stopped him; why expose a valuable life so uselessly?

- There was that famous day in February 1897 when... he rejected the orders of the Protecting Powers and in the picturesque phrase in the Greek newspapers "defied the navies of Europe"

- Under the smooth diplomat of today is the revolutionist who prodded the Turks out of Crete and the bold chieftain who camped with a little band of rebels on a hilltop above Canea and there he defied the consuls and the fleets of all the [Great] Powers!