[2] The family, apparently the richest in independent Greece, stemmed from the younger son of an Albanian peasant.

When the War of Independence broke out, Georgios, along with the rest of the Kountouriotis family, supported the effort with generous donations as well as with their ships.

Georgios Kountouriotis became a member of the executive committee of the Greek Revolution and served as its president from 1823 to 1826 during the crucial time of the siege of Missolonghi.

During the period of French Party ascendancy in the reign of King Otto, he served as prime minister.

He was the grandfather of Pavlos Kountouriotis who fought in the First Balkan War and later served as the first (1924-1926) President of the Second Hellenic Republic.