DELYANNI

delyanni, theodoros (1826-1905), greek statesman, was born at kalavryta, peloponnesus, in 1826. he studied law at athens, and in 1843 entered the ministry of the interior, of which department he became permanent secretary in 1859. in 1862, on the deposition of king otho, he became minister for foreign affairs in the provisional government. in 1867 he was minister at paris. on his return to athens he became a member of successive cabinets in various capacities, and rapidly collected a party around him consisting of those who opposed his great rival, tricoupi. in the so-called "oecumenical ministry" of 1877 he voted for war with turkey, and on its fall he entered the cabinet of koumoundoros as minister for foreign affairs. he was a representative of greece at the berlin congress in 1878. from this time forward, and particularly after 1882, when tricoupi again came into power at the head of a strong party, the duel between these two statesmen was the leading feature of greek politics. (see greece: _history_.) delyanni first formed a cabinet in 1885; but his warlike policy, the aim of which was, by threatening turkey, to force the powers to make concessions in order to avoid the risk of a european war, ended in failure. for the powers, in order to stop his excessive armaments, eventually blockaded the peiraeus and other ports, and this brought about his downfall. he returned to power in 1890, with a radical programme, but his failure to deal with the financial crisis produced a conflict between him and the king, and his disrespectful attitude resulted in his summary dismissal in 1892. delyanni, by his demagogic behaviour, evidently expected the public to side with him; but at the elections he was badly beaten. in 1895, however, he again became prime minister, and was at the head of affairs during the cretan crisis and the opening of the war with turkey in 1897. the humiliating defeat which ensued--though delyanni himself had been led into the disastrous war policy to some extent against his will--caused his fall in april 1897, the king again dismissing him from office when he declined to resign. delyanni kept his own seat at the election of 1899, but his following dwindled to small dimensions. he quickly recovered his influence, however, and he was again president of the council and minister of the interior when, on the 13th of june 1905, he was murdered in revenge for the rigorous measures taken by him against gambling houses. the main fault of delyanni as a statesman was that he was unable to grasp the truth that the prosperity of a state depends on its adapting its ambitions to its means. yet, in his vast projects, which the powers were never likely to endorse, and without their endorsement were vain, he represented the real wishes and aspirations of his countrymen, and his death was the occasion for an extraordinary demonstration of popular grief. he died in extreme poverty, and a pension was voted to the two nieces who lived with him. demades (c. 380-318 b.c.), athenian orator and demagogue. he was originally of humble position, and was employed at one time as a common sailor, but he rose partly by his eloquence and partly by his unscrupulous character to a prominent position at athens. he espoused the cause of philip in the war against olynthus, and was thus brought into bitter and life-long enmity with demosthenes, whom he at first supported. he fought against the macedonians in the battle of chaeroneia, and was taken prisoner. having made a favourable impression upon philip, he was released together with his fellow-captives, and was instrumental in bringing about a treaty of peace between macedonia and athens. he continued to be a favourite of alexander, and, prompted by a bribe, saved demosthenes and the other obnoxious athenian orators from his vengeance. it was also chiefly owing to him that alexander, after the destruction of thebes, treated athens so leniently. his conduct in supporting the macedonian cause, yet receiving any bribes that were offered by the opposite party, caused him to be heavily fined more than once; and he was finally deprived of his civil rights. he was reinstated (322) on the approach of antipater, to whom he was sent as ambassador. before setting out he persuaded the citizens to pass sentence of death upon demosthenes and his followers, who had fled from athens. the result of his embassy was the conclusion of a peace greatly to the disadvantage of the athenians. in 318 (or earlier), having been detected in an intrigue with perdiccas, antipater's opponent, he was put to death by antipater at pella, when entrusted with another mission by the athenians. demades was avaricious and unscrupulous; but he was a highly gifted and practised orator. a fragment of a speech ([greek: peri dodekaetias]), bearing his name, in which he defends his conduct, is to be found in c. muller's _oratores attici_, ii. 438, but its genuineness is exceedingly doubtful. demagogue (gr. [greek: demagogos], from [greek: agein], to lead, and [greek: demos], the people), a leader of the popular as opposed to any other party. being particularly used with an invidious sense of a mob leader or orator, one who for his own political ends panders to the passions and prejudices of the people, the word has come to mean an unprincipled agitator.