Leonidas Paraskevopoulos was a Greek military officer and politician.

Paraskevopoulos was born in 1860 on the island of Kythnos

Kythnos

Kythnos is a Greek island and municipality in the Western Cyclades between Kea and Serifos. It is from the harbor of Piraeus. Kythnos is in area and has a coastline of about . It has more than 70 beaches, many of which are still inaccessible by road...

 to a family that hailed from Smyrna

Izmir

Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

, Asia Minor

Asia Minor

Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

. He joined the Hellenic Army

Hellenic Army

The Hellenic Army , formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece.The motto of the Hellenic Army is , "Freedom Stems from Valor", from Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War...

 and took part in the Greco-Turkish War (1897)

Greco-Turkish War (1897)

The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...

, the Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

 and World War I.

After World War I, Paraskevopoulos was made Commander in Chief of the Greek forces that occupied Smyrna in 1919 in accordance with the Treaty of Sèvres

Treaty of Sèvres

The Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...

. Under his command, the Hellenic Army successfully extended their occupation zone, from the greater İzmir (Smyrna) area, south to Aydin (Aidini) and west to Bursa near the ancient city of Cius

Cius

Cius or Kios , later renamed Prusias ad Mare after king Prusias I of Bithynia, was an ancient Greek city bordering the Propontis , in Bithynia , and had a long history, being mentioned by Aristotle, and Strabo. It was colonized by the Milesians and became a place of much commercial importance...

. He was replaced however, after the November 1920 elections

Greek legislative election, 1920

The legislative elections of 1920 were probably the most crucial elections in the modern history of Greece, influencing not only the few years afterwards, including Greece's defeat by Kemal Atatürk's reformed Turkish army in 1922, but setting the stage for Greece's political landscape for most of...

, with the royalist Anastasios Papoulas

Anastasios Papoulas

Anastasios Papoulas was a Greek general and commander-in-chief during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922.- Life :Born in Missolonghi in 1859, Anastasios Papoulas entered politics in his early twenties eventually becoming a close friend and confidant of King Constantine. He was appointed commander...

.

After the end of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Paraskevopoulos entered politics. He was elected in the Greek Senate election, 1929

Greek Senate election, 1929

The Senate was a new institution introduced with the Greek Constitution of 1927. In 1929 the first elections for the Senate took place and resulted in a triumph for the Liberal Party, Eleftherios Venizelos and the other venizelist parties....

 with the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (Greece)

The Liberal Party was one of the major Greek political parties of the early 20th century.- History :Founded as the Xipoliton party in Crete , its early leaders were Kostis Mitsotakis and Eleftherios Venizelos...

 under Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...

 and served as President of the Senate. He died in 1936 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

.