Stefanos Chalis ( el, Στέφανος Χάλης, c. 1796 – August 19, 1821) was a
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 ...
chieftain and a fighter of 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 ...
from
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
. He was the younger brother of fighters of the Revolution, Vassilios and Ioannis, who were also notable chieftains.
Biography
Chalis was born in the village
Theriso
Theriso ( el, Θέρισο, Δήμος Θερίσου) is a village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. ...
near
Chania
Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion.
The muni ...
circa 1796 and was the youngest son of Dimitrios Chalis, who took care the education of his children so that Stefanos and his brothers to become major recipients of education. Specifically, Stefanos was student of the renowned scholars of the time,
Iakovos Manolessos and
Gregorios Perdikaris. This broad education that he acquired, resulted in his appointment under the clerical staff of British consulates, initially in Crete and then in
Patras
)
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[Dionisios A. Kokkinos, ''Η Ελληνική Επανάστασις'', εκδόσεις Μέλισσα, 1974, vol. 2, p. 40.] During his stay in Patras, he was initiated into the
Filiki Eteria
Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek ...
[Agne Vlavianou-Arvaniti, 2004, p. 32.] and when the revolution broke out he returned to his birthplace where he became chieftain.
He participated in the victorious for the Greek forces battle of Theriso on 15 July 1821 while on 19 August of the same year he participated in the also victorious battle on Aliakes, near Souda Bay
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greece, Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akr ...
, where he was killed during a raid.[''Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους'', Εκδοτική Αθηνών, Athens 1975, vol. 12, p. 168.]
Stefanos Chalis is also attested as a poet, singer and lyre
The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...
player. According to one theory, it is claimed that Chalis is the creator of the famous traditional song Cretan song ''Pote tha kani xasteria'' (''When will the sky clear'').
References
Bibliography
*Dionisios A. Kokkinos, ''Η Ελληνική Επανάστασις'', εκδόσεις Μέλισσα, 1974, vol. 2.
*Agne Vlavianou-Arvaniti, ''Βασίλειος Χάλης - Η Επανάσταση του 1821 στην Κρήτη'', 2004.
*''Ιστορία Ελληνικού Έθνους'', Εκδοτική Αθηνών, Athens 1975, vol. 12.
External links
Εφημερίδα ''Πατρίς'': Η περιγραφή του Καλλίνικου Κριτοβουλίδη για την αρχή της Επανάστασης.
(Greek)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalis Stefanos
1796 births
1821 deaths
Greek people of the Greek War of Independence
Members of the Filiki Eteria
People from Chania (regional unit)
Greek military personnel killed in action
Military personnel from Chania