Spyridon Stais was a brilliant politician but there is one act that tarnished his name.
It is about the custom of duels that stopped at the beginning of the 20th century, after enough blood was spilled and to which several Greek politicians gave in.
On June 18, 1904, Spyridon Stais, while he was a minister for a second term in the government of Georgios Theotokis, murdered Trikala MP Konstantinos Hatzipetrou.
It all started with a verbal attack by Hadjipetros towards Stai, because he did not appoint his friend Melissinos as a professor of Anatomy. Stais responded harshly and eventually they were led to a duel, despite the efforts of Prime Minister Georgios Theotokis to reach a compromise.
In the pistol duel, Stais hit the mark. After this unpleasant event he resigned as minister.
He died in 1932 in Athens and was buried in his birthplace, Kythira. His cousin was the archaeologist Valerios Stais.