Alexandros Schinas, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetAlexandros Schinas
killer of George I of Greece
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Serres, Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace, Greece
About Alexandros Schinas
- Alexandros Schinas (Greek: ????a?d??? S?????, c.
- 1870 – May 6, 1913), also known as Aleko Schinas, assassinated King George I of Greece in 1913.
- Schinas has been variously portrayed as either an anarchist with political motivations (propaganda by deed), or a madman, but the historical record is inconclusive.
- The details of the assassination itself are known: on March 18, 1913, shortly after Thessaloniki's liberation from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War, King George I was out for a late afternoon walk in the city, and, as was his custom, lightly guarded.
- Encountering George on the street near the White Tower, Schinas shot the king once in the back from close range with a revolver, killing him.
- Schinas was arrested and tortured.
- He claimed to have acted alone, blaming his actions on delirium brought on by tuberculosis.
- After several weeks in custody, Schinas died by falling out of a police station window, either by murder or by suicide. The details of Schinas's life before the assassination are unclear.
- He was a native Greek but his birthplace is disputed, likely either in the area of Volos or Serres.
- He may have been a medical student, teacher, unlicensed doctor, chemistry shop assistant, waiter, beggar or none of these.
- Several years before the assassination, Schinas may have left Greece for New York City, returning in February 1913.
- Some contemporary sources reported that he advocated anarchism or socialism, and ran an anarchist school that was shut down by the Greek government.
- Other sources claim he was mentally ill, a foreign agent, or held a grudge against the king.
- Since his death, his true motivations have been the subject of much dispute.
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