Dimitrios Panourgias ( el, Δημήτριος Πανουργιάς; 1754-1834), 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 ...

military commander during 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 ...

, was born Dimitrios Xiros () in the village of Dremissa,

Phocis Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Vardo ...

Early life

His parents originated from the village Agios Georgios in Phocis, although he was born in Dremissa. His family surname was Xiros (Ξηρός). The legend had that his godfather, who baptised him, thought he was a girl and named him with the female name "Panorea" (Πανωραία/very beautiful), and by that name, in the masculine form, he was by then being called.

Klepht and Armatolos

Panourias in early age took part in the Orlov revolt, against the Ottomans, under

Lambros Katsonis Lambros Katsonis ( el, Λάμπρος Κατσώνης; russian: Ламброс Кацонис; 1752–1805) was a Greek people, Greek privateer of the 18th century who would ultimately sail under the Russian flag with the rank of colonel. He bec ...

. In 1790 he entered the '' armatoluk'' of Androutsos Verousis (father of

Odysseas Androutsos Odysseas Androutsos ( el, Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος; 1788 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis el, Οδυσσέας Βερούσης) was a Greek military and political commander in eastern mainland Greece and a prominent figure of the ...

) and for a short time became commander of the

Salona Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia. Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in t ...

''armatoluk'' with the support of

Ali Pasha Ali Pasha was the name of numerous Ottoman pashas named Ali. It is most commonly used to refer to Ali Pasha of Ioannina. People * Çandarlı Ali Pasha (died 1406), Ottoman grand vizier (1387–1406) * Hadım Ali Pasha (died 1511), Ottoman grand v ...

, but quickly abandoned his position and turned himself into a

klepht Klephts (; Greek κλέφτης, ''kléftis'', pl. κλέφτες, ''kléftes'', which means "thieves" and perhaps originally meant just "brigand": "Other Greeks, taking to the mountains, became unofficial, self-appointed armatoles and were know ...

. In 1816, however he rejoined Ali Pasha and was once more appointed as an ''armatolos'' in the Salona district. It was there where he became a member of 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 ...

Greek War of Independence

On 24 March 1821 he declared the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

in Salona, forcing the surrender of the Ottoman garrison on 10 April. The surrendering Ottomans were massacred by Panourgias' men; by his personal intervention, he managed to save a handful of them. He then collaborated with

Athanasios Diakos Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas ( el, Αθανάσιος Νικόλαος Μασσαβέτας; 1788 – 24 April 1821) also known as Athanasios Diakos ( el, Αθανάσιος Διάκος) was a Greek military commander during the Greek War of ...

and Dyovouniotis in order to halt

Omer Vryonis Vizier Ömer Pasha Vrioni (in Greek spelling: Ομέρ Βρυώνης, ''Omer Vryonis'') was a leading Ottoman- Albanian figure in the Greek War of Independence. Early life Omer Vrioni was a Muslim Tosk Albanian from the village of Vrioni ne ...

from advancing further into

Central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

. Panourgias with his band was to defend the hills of Chalkomata, near

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

, but was seriously wounded during the fights and had to withdraw. He later was one of the defenders of the eponymous inn in the

Battle of Gravia Inn The Battle of Gravia Inn ( el, Μάχη στο Χάνι της Γραβιάς) was fought between Greece, Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence. The Greek leaders Odysseas Androutsos, Yannis Gouras an ...

, and fought in the

Battle of Vasilika The Battle of Vasilika was fought between Greek revolutionaries and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence. Battle After the battle of Alamana, the route to Eastern Central Greece and Morea was clear for the Ottoman armies. Du ...

, the surrender of Corinth, the Battle of Ambliani, the battle of Haidari, the Battle of Distomo, and other battles. He participated in January, 1822 to the

First National Assembly at Epidaurus The First National Assembly of Epidaurus (, 1821–1822) was the first meeting of the Greek National Assembly, a national representative political gathering of the Greek revolutionaries. History The assembly opened in December 1821 at Piada (to ...

as representative of Salona. He retired from military operations some months later, after he handed the leadership of his militia band to his son,

Nakos Panourgias Nakos Panourgias ( el, Νάκος Πανουργιάς) was a Greek commander during the Greek War of Independence, who rose to the rank of major general and was elected an MP in the independent Kingdom of Greece. Life Nakos Panourgias was born i ...

. He died in 1834 at Salona.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panourgias, Dimitrios 1754 births 1834 deaths People from Kallieis Members of the Filiki Eteria Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence