 Emmanuel Tsouderos was born in 1882 in Rethymno, Crete (then part of the Ottoman Empire).He studied law at Athens University, and economics in Paris and London.He returned to Crete aged 24, and was elected Member of Parliament of the Cretan Legislature (1906–1912), when Crete had autonomous status under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire and was under the protection of Russia, Britain, France and Italy.