Before Greek independence, his grandfather, Alexander Rallis, was a prominent Phanariote.

His father, Georgios A. Rallis [el], was a minister in Andreas Miaoulis's government, and later served as the Chief Justice of the Greek Supreme Court.

[4] He last formed a government after the 1920 election and it was his cabinet that authorised the plebiscite that saw King Constantine's return to the throne.

Dimitrios Rallis died of cancer in Athens on 5 August 1921 at the age of 77.

His son, Ioannis Rallis, was a Quisling Prime Minister during the Axis occupation of Greece.