Athanasios Stavroudis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Αθανάσιος Σταυρούδης) was a

chieftain of the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...

, soldier of the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and spy of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

army during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Biography

Stavroudis was born in 1873 in Baldzha (now Melissochori) of

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. He joined the

very early on and as a prefect of the town, he was one of the key members of the ''National Committee of Baldzha''. His mission was to inform the Defense Center of

about the movements of the

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

armed groups and of the Ottoman military detachments. Several times he took armed action with the ''Milita of Baldzha'' in order to defend against attacks by Bulgarian

komitadji Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas (Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee memb ...

s. In November 1908, while the new regime of the Young Turks had launched a persecution against the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, he fled to the Defense Center of Thessaloniki and then fled to

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, along with his partner Stavros Baretis, from Balaftsa (now Kolchiko), where he came in contact with the

Macedonian Committee The Macedonian Committee ( gr, Μακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, ''Makedoniko Komitato''), formally the Hellenic Macedonian Committee (Ελληνομακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, ''Ellinomakedoniko Komitato''), was a Greek revolutionary ...

there. In 1912,

Themistoklis Sofoulis Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis (; 24 November 1860 – 24 June 1949) was a prominent centrist and liberal Greek politician from Samos Island, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece, with the Liberal Party, which he led for many y ...

contacted the Macedonian Committee of Athens to ask for help because the situation in

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

had become dangerous. The Ottoman-appointed

Prince of Samos The Principality of Samos ( el, Ηγεμονία της Σάμου, ; ota, Sisam İmâreti, script=Latn, italic=yes; tr, Sisam Beyliği) was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire from 1834 to 1912. The island of Samos participated ...

Andreas Kopasis Andreas Kopasis was the Ottoman-appointed Prince of Samos from 1908 to 1912. His tenure was widely regarded as pro-Turkish and tyrannical. His bringing in of additional Ottoman troops in 1908 caused a revolt to break out among the Samians, which ...

, had installed an Ottoman garrison on the island and the Greeks were being persecuted. The aims of the Macedonian Committee of Athens, as well as of Sofoulis and of the Greeks of Samos, concurred, as everyone was trying to liberate their homelands from the Ottomans. So, a collaboration was developed and Stavroudis met with Stavros Baretis and Themistoklis Sofoulis in order to organize the assassination of the ruler Andreas Kopasis. Stavroudis, pretending to be a tobacco trader, went to

in February 1912 with Stavros Baretis and there he prepared the murder plan with locals. A little bit before the plan occurred and Kopasis got murdered by Baretis, he returned by boat to Athens. Later, he participated in both

and distinguished himself in the

Battle of Kilkis A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1913. During the

, he was assigned as a spy to the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

to investigate issues related to Greek interests. He was honoured with multiple medals for his contribution to the

and the Balkan Wars, while for his contribution to the Samos case a bust was erected in the town of Samos.

Sources & References

Ο Μακεδονομάχος Αθανάσιος Σταυρούδης και η εκτέλεση του Ηγεμόνα Ανδρέα Κοπάση, Κωνσταντίνος Τσαρούχας
*

John S. Koliopoulos John S. Koliopoulos ( el, Ιωάννης Σ. Κολιόπουλος) (Ioannis Koliopoulos in modern transliteration) was a Greek historian, born in the village of Votani, Kastoria in 1942. He was the author of ''Plundered loyalties: Axis occupat ...

(editor), Αφανείς, γηγενείς Μακεδονομάχοι, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 2008, p. 60 * Επετηρίς Αγωνιστών Μακεδονικού Αγώνος 1903–1909, αύξων αριθμός 3904 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stavroudis, Athanasios 1873 births Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle Greek Macedonians Macedonian revolutionaries (Greek) World War I spies for France Year of death missing People from Thessaloniki (regional unit) Revolutionaries from the Ottoman Empire