Panagiotis Kosmas Tsitsilias

Tsitsilias was son of the mayor of Potamos Kosmas Tsitsilias, who was closely associated with Eleftherios Venizelos, whom he supported after the Thessaloniki government during the First World War.

Panagiotis Tsitsilias led a quasi revolutionary movement on Kythera, which came to an agreement with the Athens government to create the short-lived Autonomous Administration of Kythera, a state formation with local powers covering customs collections, education, etc. (1917)

Tsitsilias was himself elected head of this local “government” and he was in contact with representatives of Venizelos on Crete as well as with British officers who supported the movement due to Kythera’s important strategic location.

After these events Tsitsilias was elected member of parliament for Kythera and it was his proposal that led to the inclusion of the island into the Prefecture of Attica (1928), where it has remained ever since.

Tsitsilias also published the local newspaper Foni ton Kythiron, which expressed his views and which was continued by his son Ares Tsitsilias.

Panagiotis Tsitsilias wrote a History of Kythera (Ιστορία των Κυθήρων), published by the Society of Kytherian Studies many years after his death.

From Emmanuel Kalligeros's Kytherian Surnames