List of rulers of Crete

This is a list of the rulers and governors of the island of Crete throughout its history.

Antiquity

Roman governors

Crete was conquered for the Roman Republic by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus in 69 BC and united with the Cyrenaica in the province of Creta et Cyrenaica until 193 AD, when it became a separate province. After the reforms of Emperor Diocletian in the 290s, its governor held the rank of consularis.

Byzantine and Arab periods

Crete became part of the East Roman or Byzantine Empire upon the partition of the Roman Epire in 395 AD. It remained in Byzantine hands until it was conquered by Andalusian exiles in the mid-820s and became an emirate, nominally under Abbasid suzerainty. The emirate became a major base for Muslim naval raids along the coasts of the Byzantine Empire, and several attempts at reconquest failed. The Byzantines finally retook the island in 961 under the leadership of Nikephoros Phokas, and held it until 1205.

Byzantine governors

Emirs of Crete

Venetian period, 1212–1669

Genoese governors, 1204–1212

Dukes of Candia, 1212–1669

The supreme Venetian governor of Crete bore the title of "Duke of Candia" (Italian: duca di Candia).

Ottoman period, 1646–1898

Valis of Crete

Modern period, 1898–today

High Commissioners of the Cretan State

Crete became an autonomous state under international protection and nominal Ottoman suzerainty following the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. A High Commissioner of the Great Powers (Ύπατος Αρμοστής) was installed to govern the island. In 1908, the Cretan Assembly unilaterally declared union with Greece, but this was not recognized by Greece until the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912 and internationally until 1913.

#	Name	Picture	Took office	Left office
1	Prince George of Greece and Denmark		21 December 1898	30 September 1906
2	Alexandros Zaimis		1 October 1906	30 September 1911
3	Three-member Commission		30 September 1911	11 October 1912

Governors-General of Crete

From unification with Greece in 1912 until 1955, Crete as a whole was administered by a government-appointed governor-general (Greek: Γενικός Διοικητής Κρήτης), who supervised the administration of the island's four prefectures (Chania, Heraklion, Lasithi and Rethymno).

#	Name	Picture	Took office	Left office
1	Stefanos Dragoumis		11 October 1912	30 May 1913
2	Georgios Ploumidis		1913	1913
3	Loukas Kanakaris-Roufos		December 1913	April 1915
4	Ioannis Tsirimokos		April 1915	1917
5	Konstantinos Tsaldaris		1921	1922
6	Georgios Karpetopoulos§		9 May 1922	28 August 1922
7	Polychronis Polychronidis		1922	1922
8	Dimitrios Tombazis		1922	1923
9	Periklis Mazarakis		1923	1924
10	Petros Evripaios		1924	1924
11	Nikolaos Paritsis		1924	1925
12	Manousos Koundouros		1925	1926
13	Nikolaos Zouridis		1926	1927
14	Titos Georgiadis		1927	1928
15	Georgios Katechakis§		10 March 1928	22 December 1930
16	Nikolaos Askoutsis§		22 December 1930	25 May 1932
17	Dimitrios Kalitsounakis§		26 May 1932	5 June 1932
18	Michail Katapotis§		19 June 1932	4 November 1932
19	Vasileios Meimarakis§		25 November 1932	16 January 1933
20	Michail Kyrkos§		16 January 1933
21	Ioannis Moutzouridis§		13 March 1933	25 May 1934
22	Ilias Aposkitis§		25 May 1934	1 June 1935
23	Georgios Frangiadakis§		19 July 1935	10 October 1935
24	Georgios Tsontos§		10 October 1935	30 November 1935
25	Konstantinos Bakopoulos§		7 December 1935	14 March 1936
26	Panagiotis Sfakianakis§		18 May 1936	1941
27	Emmanouil Louladakis§		1941	26 January 1943
28	Ioannis Passadakis§		26 January 1943	10 October 1944
29	Agathangelos Xirouchakis		1944	1944
30	Nikolaos Papadakis		1944	1945
31	Manousos Voloudakis§		29 January 1945	4 April 1946
32	Dionysios Voultsos§		8 May 1946	4 November 1946
33	Emmanouil Papadogiannis§		4 November 1946	24 January 1947
34	Evangelos Daskalakis§		31 January 1947	17 February 1947
35	Christos Tzifakis		1947	1947
36	Emmanouil Baklatzis		1947	1948
37	Anastasios Hobitis		1948	1948
38	Polychronis Polychronidis		1948	1950
39	Nikolaos Krasadakis		1950
40	Stylianos Koundouros
41	Ioannis Konotiakis			1955

Notes: ^§ denotes a person bearing cabinet rank as Minister General-Governor of Crete (Υπουργός Γενικός Διοικητής Κρήτης) or Vice-Minister General-Governor of Crete (Υφυπουργός Γενικός Διοικητής Κρήτης).

Regional governors of Crete

With the establishment of the region of Crete (Περιφέρεια Κρήτης) in 1986, Crete became again an administrative entity. Until 2011, the regional governors (περιφερειάρχες) were government-appointed, but in accordance to the Kallikratis reform they were replaced with elected officials.

Elected governors

External links

• Rulers of Crete, from World Statesmen.org