Evangelos Artemis
Evangelos Artemis (Ευάγγελος Αρτέμης) was a Greek engineer involved in the early development of Guided missiles. Artemis studied Electrical engineering in France and Austria and worked in France, the United Kingdom and Germany. According to Artemis himself, he conceived details of a guided missile when he studied German Bombardments of World War I. After working with designs involving remote tracing and control, he started working after 1933, in Greece, on a remote guided "rocket" system. With state technical and financial support he constructed his prototypes, which were tested near the island of Salamina in the Summer of 1938. The fate of the designs remains a mystery to this date. Artemis claimed that the designs were given to a "foreign power", refusing any further development of his ideas. After World War II he worked in various research institutes, including the National Technical University of Athens, a city where he lived until May 12, 1980.
References/Notes
- Nikolaos E. Christofilis, "Evangelos Artemis", Stratiotiki Istoriki Erevna, September 2013 issue, p. 20
- Extensive Article published in "TA NEA", a leading Greek newspaper (in Greek), in three parts, issues of December 15, December 16 and December 17, 1980 - a little after Artemis' death. A lot of details were reported in this article that included pictures of "rocket" sketches with handwritten notes (in French) by Artemis. It is also reported that the missile tests contacted in Salamina were particularly successful.
- L.S. Skartsis, "Encyclopedia of Greek Automobiles and Aircraft", Achaikes Ekdoseis/Typorama, Patras, Greece (1995). The author used the above source and independent interviews with people that knew Artemis.
- A few years before his death, it was reported that Artemis had expressed interest to have an interview with the well-known democratic activist and politician Alekos Panagoulis (killed in a car accident in 1976), one of those interested in the recognition of his work.