Athanasios Petimezas or Petmezas ( el, Αθανάσιος Πετ ��εζάς, –1804) was a leading Greek in the late Ottoman-era

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

Life

Athanasios Petimezas was born at near Kalavryta. As a child, possibly around the age of ten, he was taken by the Turks to Smyrna, with the intention to make him a Janissary. After six years, Petimezas was able to escape, secretly boarding a ship bound for his native

. On the way, the ship was boarded by Tripolitanian corsairs, who took the crew captive to Tripoli. There Petimezas remained imprisoned for some time, until his winning a jumping contest resulted in being let free. Once back in his home, Petimezas became a klepht, quickly coming to lead a large warband in attacks against the Ottomans in the northwest Peloponnese. To get rid of this menace, the local Ottoman administration awarded him the of Kalavryta and its region; at the same time, they asked the pasha of the Morea to send them reinforcements against Petimezas and his men. To this end, the pasha set a trap: Muslims from the village of

Lalas Lalas can refer to: ;People * Alexi Lalas (born 1970), American association football defender *Sita Ram Lalas (1912–1986), Indian linguist and lexicographer *Steven John Lalas (born 1953), American State Department communications officer * Vyta ...

were to raid the region of Kalavryta as bandits, obliging Petimezas to march against them. The pasha would then send troops, ostensibly to his assistance, but with the real purpose of eliminating him. Petimezas became aware of this plan, and moved first, by attacking and eliminating the Lalaians at Sirbani. After that, he resumed his attacks against the local Turks, and in 1785 he joined the union of of the Peloponnese initiated by

Zacharias Barbitsiotis Zacharias Pantelakos ( el, Ζαχαριάς Παντελάκος; 22 October 1759 – 20 July 1804), nicknamed Barbitsiotis ( el, Μπαρμπιτσιώτης) but more commonly known as ''Kapetan'' Zacharias ( el, Καπετάν Ζαχαριά ...

. Petimezas became the union's deputy leader, after Theodoros Kolokotronis. In 1796, while Petimezas was at Mani, the Ottomans attacked and killed his brothers Ioannis and Antonios, and his cousins Stefos and Dimitrios, with some of their men, near

Mega Spilaion Mega Spilaio (), formally the Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Ιερά Μονή Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου), is a Greek Orthodox monastery near Kalavryta, in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. History Th ...

. This attack was apparently instigated by a Greek rival,

Sotirios Charalambis Sotirios ( el, Σωτήριος) or Sotiris () is a male given name of Greek origin, meaning "salvation" (, ). Sotiria () is the female version of the name. It may refer to: People Politicians and statespersons *Sotirios Hatzigakis (born 1944), G ...

of Zarouchla; upon his return from Mani, Petimezas attacked Caharalmbis' tower house and killed its inhabitants, torching the tower as he left. In the aftermath, he again resumed his attacks against the Turks, reportedly killing about a hundred of them, before he was forced to flee to

Amfissa Amfissa ( el, Άμφισσα , also mentioned in classical sources as Amphissa) is a town in Phocis, Greece, part of the municipality of Delphi, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 315.174 km2. It l ...

to escape pursuit. In 1800, he was able to return, as the Ottomans again awarded him the of Kalavryta and Vostitsa. Nevertheless, as he remained a dangerous opponent, on 11 June 1804, the Turks, aided by another rival, Asimakis Skaltsas, attacked Petimezas at his tower house in Soudena. Petimezas resisted for some time, but was killed by his servant, who had been bribed by the Ottomans.

Family

His sons Vasileios and Nikolaos fled to British-held Zakynthos, and later became important leaders in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

. Other branches of the Petimezas family also played a role in the War of Independence, and provided several generals of the independent Greek state.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petimezas, Athanasios 1760s births 1804 deaths

Athanasios Athanasios ( el, Αθανάσιος), also transliterated as Athnasious, Athanase or Atanacio, is a Greek male name which means "immortal". In modern Greek everyday use, it is commonly shortened to Thanasis (Θανάσης), Thanos (Θάνος), ...

People from Kalavryta 18th-century Greek people 19th-century Greek people Greek revolutionaries Greek military leaders Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Peloponnese Assassinated Greek people Prisoners and detainees of the Ottoman Empire