{{Infobox person | name = George Doukas Philanthropenos | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | death_date = before 1452 | citizenship = Byzantine Empire | years_active = 1429–1446 | title = ''mesazon'' of the Empire | relatives = Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople }} '''George Doukas Philanthropenos''' ({{langx|el|Γεώργιος Δούκας Φιλανθρωπηνός}}; died before 1452) was a close confidant of Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos (r. 1425–1448) and served briefly as ''mesazon'' (chief minister) of the Byzantine Empire in 1438–1439.

He first appears in 1429. John VIII entrusted him with the symbolically important diplomatic missions of conferring the insignia of Despot to the Serbian rulers Đurađ Branković (in 1429 or 1435) and Lazar Branković (in 1446).{{sfn|PLP|loc=29760. {{lang|grc|Φιλανθρωπηνός, Γεώργιος Δούκας}}}} In 1438–1439 he accompanied John VIII to the Council of Ferrara, and was appointed joint ''mesazon'' along with Manuel Iagaris Palaiologos. In this capacity he played an important role, putting pressure on the Byzantine delegation to accept the Union of the Churches.{{sfn|PLP|loc=29760. {{lang|grc|Φιλανθρωπηνός, Γεώργιος Δούκας}}}}

He was a relative of the Patriarch of Constantinople Joseph II, who died in 1439 during the Council. George left an endowment to the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, where Joseph was buried, for an annual mass in his memory.{{sfn|PLP|loc=29760. {{lang|grc|Φιλανθρωπηνός, Γεώργιος Δούκας}}}}

== References == {{Reflist|2}}

== Sources == * {{Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Philanthropenos, George Doukas}} Category:15th-century deaths Category:15th-century Byzantine people Category:15th-century Byzantine government officials George Doukas Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Ambassadors to Serbia