David Balfour: The Monk Who Was a Secret Agent and “Pushed” Greece into Civil War

source – reader.gr (link here for the original Greek text)

This is a significant spy story – probably the most significant spy story of modern Greek history… Here is the short video, followed by the full narration…

On a day like today, January 20, 1903, David Balfour was born. He was the cassock-wearing Father Dimitrios, a member of the British secret services.

There is always what is visible—and what is not. And although we may agree that it is difficult for something to remain hidden forever, when it finally comes to light, it is usually too late.

All of the above often applies to the world of intelligence services. People think they are seeing something, while in reality, they are not.

In Greek history, for example, there are many such people. They acted right under everyone’s nose, causing many tears and great pain.

One of them—the most important—was David Balfour. This name will probably not mean much to you. His case, after all, is not one of those that have been “cleared” and openly discussed.

Balfour came to Greece and became a monk. Up to that point, everything seemed normal. That was what was visible. But there was something else—something invisible.

He was the man who, through his actions and underground maneuvering, managed to eliminate any suspicion of cooperation between the right and the left. Eventually, weapons spoke—and he calmly continued his life in Britain.

The Cassock-Wearing Man Who Was a Secret Agent

On January 20, 1903, David Balfour was born. He came from a wealthy family and received an excellent upbringing. He studied at the universities of Prague, Salzburg, Rome, and later Athens. He spoke English, French, Italian, German, Russian, Polish, Greek, and Turkish.

With such qualifications, he could have followed any career he wished. Instead, he heard the call of God and decided to become a priest. Although Catholic, he came into contact with Orthodoxy and, in the early 1930s, was baptized in a church in Paris. In 1934, he went to Mount Athos, where he became a monk and took the name Dimitrios.

The following year he went to Athens and joined the Priestly Order of Saint Panteleimon. He was ordained by the Metropolitan of Karystia, Panteleimon, and registered as a monk at the Monastery of Penteli.

He was later appointed parish priest at Evangelismos Hospital and at the same time assumed priestly duties at the royal palace chapel. He lived inside the hospital and also taught at the British Council.

He became an archimandrite, and his reputation as an educated priest who gave advice on everything and listened to the problems of the faithful grew rapidly. Father Dimitrios soon became one of the most recognizable priests in Athens.

At first glance, his life seemed unremarkable. Nothing shocking. The issue, however, was that Father Dimitrios was also… David Balfour, even if it did not appear so. He lived two lives: the visible one and the invisible one.

Some say he was recruited before coming to Greece; others say he was recruited after his arrival. In any case, Archimandrite Dimitrios, beyond being a famous priest, was also an agent of the British Intelligence Service.

PHOTO: David Balfour in Athens during the December Events, standing behind Churchill and Archbishop Damaskinos.

He was essentially the eyes and ears of the British in the drawing rooms of the capital. People with economic and political influence, including high-ranking military officers (even Alexandros Papagos himself), opened the doors of their homes to the cassock-wearing agent for confession.

His influence reached as far as the palace. As a palace priest, he heard the confessions of members of the royal family, such as Princess Nikolaou, the Russian-born wife of Prince Nikolaos, son of King George I, and mother of the wife of Yugoslavia’s regent, Peter.

Suddenly, one after another, all doors opened—almost miraculously—before Archimandrite Dimitrios. He came and went from “critical” homes, even the palace itself, as easily as he entered his own home.

The Journalistic Investigation That Exposed Balfour

As the dark clouds of war thickened over Greece, the archimandrite became increasingly active. Nikolaos Soilentakis, in his book Naive Greece, writes that Balfour played a significant role even in the mysterious suicide of Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis on April 18, 1941—twelve days after the German invasion began.

A few days later, Archimandrite Dimitrios removed his cassock, shaved his thick beard, put on civilian clothes, and left Athens. His destination: British headquarters in the Middle East.

There, Archimandrite Dimitrios was transformed into a high-ranking official at the British embassy in Egypt, now wearing the uniform of a major in the British armed forces.

From that point on, David Balfour began using everything he had learned for years behind closed doors in Athens. His sole objective: to lead Greece into civil war in order to secure British interests. He was the one who proposed and convinced Churchill of the necessity of a hard line—that is, civil war.

PHOTO: Balfour on the left as an agent – on the right the communist “Rizospastis” reporting on him (he was forced to go back to Britain after this report)

He was one of the main architects of the Lebanon Conference and played a key role in the December Events of 1944. According to historian and author Sarantos Kargakos, “He was Scobie’s tongue (translator) and brain.” His underground role in the Varkiza Agreement was also significant.

Based on his own plan, a violent pogrom against leftists was unleashed to provoke a reaction and ignite the civil war. He was also the one who initially proposed appointing a regent in post-occupation Greece.

In April 1945, he was again behind the removal of Nikolaos Plastiras’ government and the formation of a new one under Admiral Voulgaris.

When Athens was liberated from the Nazis, Balfour returned. He set up headquarters at the British Embassy, 2 Ploutarchou Street in Kolonaki. His official title was “Special Envoy of the Foreign Office,” but in reality, he acted as head of the Intelligence Service in Greece.

The more openly he acted, the more rumors spread about the former archimandrite turned British agent. Some of these reached journalists.

His true role was exposed by Kostas Karagiorgis in a series of front-page articles in Rizospastis on January 23, 25, and 26, 1947. This marked the end of the British agent’s career in Greece. He left that same year and took up service in Palestine.

What he truly did during his stay in Greece will never be fully known. He never spoke about his actions. Even the Foreign Office kept them as secret as possible.

It is indicative that even historian Hagen Fleischer, who researched Foreign Office archives for his book British Intervention in Greece (1985), found only two references to Balfour—both in reports by Ambassador Leeper.

“Our troops take their orders from General Paget, and we take ours from Mr. Balfour—former Athonite monk, former long-bearded Orthodox priest, former small-Hitler-mustached major of ‘Intelligence’… Poor Greece!” wrote George Seferis in his diary, then press officer of the exiled Greek government.

After withdrawing from active service, Balfour devoted himself to theological studies and the cultivation of Byzantine music.

The cassock-wearing agent passed away on October 19, 1989, at the age of 86.