Clemençeau Filippakis was born in 1919. He was named after the French Minister President Georges Clemençeau because of his father belonged to the political group the Venizelists, which had supported the Entente Cordiale during the First World War. He graduated from high school in 1939, and two years later, he and his father hosted the first British liaison officers who had been assigned to build an espionage network in Crete. Both were subsequently exiled to Egypt, where Clemençeau was accepted into the Greek Royal Navy Academy in Alexandria. After he completed his studies in the spring of 1944, he took part in allied operations in the Mediterranean. During the military junta (1967-1974), he was forced into retirement for political reasons. Following the collapse of the regime, his officer’s title was returned to him and he was appointed prefect of Thesprotia and Samos.