1. Family life
Georgios Baltatzis was born in Smyrna in 1868. He was the son of the merchant-banker Periklis Baltatzis and Artemisia Moraitini, a descendant of a merchant family of Greece. In 1884, after completing his studies in the "Evangeliki" School of Smyrna, he moved on to the University of Athens, where he studied Law. He complemented his studies in France, specializing in diplomacy. He married Chariklia Mavrokordatos, a member of a distinguished family of merchants and diplomats originating from Chios. This was the second marriage between the Baltatzis family and that of the Mavrokordatos since the mid-18th century. Two boys were born of this marriage: Periklis and Nikolaos Emmanouil – the latter followed his father vocation and became a politician in the 20th century.
2. Political career
In 1902, Georgios Baltatzis embarked upon his political career in Greece. He was elected Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Almyros in Thessaly. On June 21, 1908 he was appointed first Foreign Minister in the government of G. Theotokis. In 1915, he received the Ministry of Communications in the government of D. Gounaris and in 1920 the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine in the government of N. Kalogeropoulos. In 1921, he was appointed Foreign Minister in the government of D. Gounaris. On October 3, 1921 he accompanied Prime Minister Gounaris to Paris and London in order to conduct negotiations with the governments of the Entente to find a solution in the military impasse in Asia Minor. In the new government Gounaris formed on March 5, 1922,1 Georgios Baltatzis again received the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Gounaris and Baltatzis travelled again to London, but, due to the failure of the negotiations, the prime minister resigned. On May 9, 1922, P. Protopapadakis, the new Prime Minister, formed a coalition government with the participation of all the antivenizelist parties and appointed Georgios Baltatzis to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On August 26 the government resigned. During the ‘Trial of the Six’, the extraordinary court-martial that was convened after the military defeat at the Campaign of Asia Minor, Georgios Baltatzis was sentenced to death along with five more politicians and military officers. The convicted were executed on November 15, 1922.
1. Following the negociations in London and Paris, the Greeks accepted the English proposal to entrust their national interests in the hands of the Entente. On his return voyage from London, Gounaris reviewed what had transpired. In the voting that ensued his government were defeated. Yet Gounaris received a new mandate again.