Alexios Apokaukos, chief minister of the Byzantine Empire
Alexios Apokaukos (Greek: Ἀλέξιος Ἀπόκαυκος; died 11 June 1345), also Latinized as Alexius Apocaucus, was a leading Byzantine statesman and high-ranking military officer (megas doux) during the reigns of emperors Andronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341) and John V Palaiologos (r. 1341–1357). Although he owed his rise to high state offices to the patronage of John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–1354), he became, together with Patriarch John XIV Kalekas, one of the leaders of the faction supporting Emperor John V in the civil war of 1341–1347 against his one-time benefactor. Apokaukos died when he was lynched by political prisoners during an inspection of a new prison.