Panagis Tsaldaris (also Panagiotis Tsaldaris or Panayotis Tsaldaris; ; 5 March 1868 – 17 May 1936) was a Greek politician and the 48th Prime Minister of Greece. He was a revered conservative politician and leader for many years (1922–1936) of the conservative People's Party in the period before World War II. He was the husband of Lina Tsaldari, a Greek suffragist, member of Parliament, and the Minister for Social Welfare. Early life Tsaldaris was born in 1868 in Kamari, near Corinth in the Peloponnese. He studied in the Law School of the University of Athens and, being an excellent student, he continued his studies abroad, among other places in Berlin and Paris. After he returned to Greece, he worked as a lawyer. Because of his expertise as an advocate, he gained the respect of his colleagues. In 1919, Tsaldaris married the daughter of the university professor (and later Prime Minister of Greece) Spyridon Lambrou, Lina Tsaldaris, who stood by him during all his life and remained politically active, even after her husband's death. Entering politics Tsaldaris entered politics in 1910, when he was elected for the first time to the Parliament for Corinth. He would be successively reelected to Parliament until his death in 1936. In 1915, he sided with King Constantine I in the latter's conflict with Eleftherios Venizelos (see national Schism) and became Minister of Justice in Dimitrios Gounaris's government. Nonetheless, after the return of Venizelos and the self-exile of the King in 1917, Panagis Tsaldaris was imprisoned and then exiled in various islands of the Aegean Sea. After the legislative elections of 1920, which resulted in an unexpected victory for the People's Party, Tsaldaris served in the governments of Dimitrios Rallis and Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos as Interior Minister and Minister of Public Transport. In the government of Dimitrios Gounaris he served once again as Minister of Public Transport. Leader of the People's Party After the execution of the People's Party's leader Dimitrios Gounaris, Tsaldaris was elected by the party members as their leader in 1922. In the elections of 1923 the party didn't take part and Tsaldaris protested against the persecution of right-wing politicians. In the plebiscite of 1924, he supported King George II. During the Pangalos dictatorship, Tsaldaris refused to collaborate with the general's regime. After the elections of 1926, Tsaldaris participated in the government of national unity of Alexandros Zaimis (as minister of National Economy, of