Theodoros kolokotronis biography books

A number of historical figures have distinguished themselves in the Greek War of Independence. Georgios Karaiskakis, Odysseas Androutsos, Markos Botsaris and Laskarina Bouboulina are some of the most famous among these personalities, but one name usually stands out: Theodoros Kolokotronis, the archetypal “hero of 1821”.

As a leading figure of the Greek Revolution, Kolokotronis, often referred to as “the Old Man of Morea (o Geros tou Moria)”, played a seminal role in the history of Modern Greece, not only in the war but also in shaping the new state, and has been associated with some of the greatest successes of the national struggle for freedom, such as the Siege of Tripolitsa and the Battle of Dervenakia.

Background: Klephts and armatoles

Following the establishment of Ottoman rule in the mainland of Greece, several were those (especially coming from the army or local militia) who chose to take refuge in the mountains and live as bandits. Throughout the Ottoman period, they would be joined by others who sought to flee vendettas, jizyahand kharājtaxes or the law. These people would eventually be called klephts (kleftes, “thieves”) as they lived by brigandage.

Due to the activity of klephts and other insurgents, the Ottomans employed irregular forces commissioned enforcing the Sultan’s authority and maintaining the peace. This type of militia, called the armatoles (armatoloi, “armed men”), which had already existed in the Byzantine Empire, were increasingly used by the Ottomans in areas with many klephts or irregular terrain. They were often manned and usually led by former notorious klephts, and many would fluctuate between the two roles.

When the Greek Revolution started being planned, these seemingly rivalling but actually interchanging groups were united, forming the nucleus of the Greek fighting forces throughout the War of Independence.

Kolokotronis and his men in their sangar, Peter v

Greek revolutionary leader (1770–1843)

Theodoros Kolokotronis (Greek: Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 15 February [O.S. 4 February] 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire.

The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt, Kolokotronis also operated as a klepht and an armatolos early in his life. While serving in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars, he became influenced by the revolutionary ideas of the era. On the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, he organized a band of Moreot klephts and captured Tripolitsa in late 1821. Kolokotronis achieved his greatest success at the 1822 Battle of Dervenakia, where he routed the Ottoman forces under the command of Mahmud Dramali Pasha. From 1823 to 1825, he took part in the Greek civil wars and, following the defeat of his faction, he was briefly imprisoned in Hydra. In 1825, Kolokotronis was released and appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in Peloponnese. He defended Greece against an Egyptian intervention.

After the war, Kolokotronis became a supporter of Ioannis Kapodistrias and a proponent of alliance with Russia. After Kapodistrias's assassination in 1831, Kolokotronis backed Prince Otto of Bavaria for the Greek throne. He later turned against Otto's regency, for which he was charged with treason and sentenced to death, but in 1835 he was pardoned. Kolokotronis died in 1843 in Athens.

Early life

Theodoros Kolokotronis was born at Ramavouni (Ραμαβούνι), a mountain in Messenia, and was baptised in the village of Piana. He descended from a family of klephts, originally from the historical village of Roupaki at the border of Messenia and Arcadia, located nearby the settlement of Tourkoleka. He grew up in the village of Libovitsi, Arc