Dimitrios Papatsonis ( el, Δημήτριος Παπατσώνης, c. 1798 – 24 June 1825) was 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 the

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 ...

. He was killed at the age of 27 in June 1825 during the battle of Trikorfa against the Egyptian forces of

Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt Ibrahim Pasha ( tr, Kavalalı İbrahim Paşa; ar, إبراهيم باشا ''Ibrāhīm Bāshā''; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was an Ottoman Albanian general in the Egyptian army and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised ...

Biography

Dimitrios Papatsonis was born in the village of Naziri,

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

(later renamed Eva) and his family was one of the most prominent in the region before the revolution.Fotakos, 1888, p. 99. He was the son of the governor of the province of

Androusa Androusa ( el, Ανδρούσα) is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Messini, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area ...

, Anagnostis Papatsonis, who died from poisoning in 1811, and brother of Ioannis Papatsonis. Dimitrios Papatsonis participated in the

Greek Revolution 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 ...

and played an important role in the

Liberation of Kalamata The Liberation of Kalamata took place on 23 March ( O.S.) 1821 when Greek irregular revolutionary forces took control of the city after the surrender of the Ottoman garrison, without fighting. It was one of the first events of the Greek War of I ...

on March 23, 1821, as the leader of a militant group of over a thousand Messenian fighters, including great chiefs such as Mitros Petrovas and

Panagiotis Kefalas Panagiotis Kefalas was a Greek fighter of the Greek Revolution of 1821. Biography He hailed from Dirrachi in the Androusa province, but was unrelated to the Kefalas magnate family. He took part in several battles of the Greek War of Independence ...

. Later, he participated in the seizure of

Kyparissia Kyparissia ( el, Κυπαρισσία) is a town and a former municipality in northwestern Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. ...

(26 March), which had been abandoned by the local Ottomans, and then he went along with other Greek rebels to

Karytaina Karytaina or Karitaina ( el, Καρύταινα or Καρίταινα) is a village and a community in Arcadia (regional unit), Arcadia, Greece. Karytaina is situated on a hill on the right bank of the river Alpheios, near its confluence with the L ...

, one of the first strongholds of the revolution. In May 1821 he participated in the

battle of Valtetsi The Battle of Valtetsi was fought on 24 May ( N.S.), 1821 in Valtetsi between the Ottoman army and Greek revolutionaries. Background The Greek War of Independence officially began on 25 March 1821. During the war, the city of Tripoli in Arca ...

and in July of the same year he was appointed one of the lieutenants of the Messenian forces that took part in the

siege of Tripolitsa The siege of Tripolitsa or fall of Tripolitsa ( el, Άλωση της Τριπολιτσάς, Álosi tis Tripolitsás, ), also known as the Tripolitsa massacre ( tr, Tripoliçe katliamı), was an early victory of the revolutionary Greek forces ...

. During the fall of Tripolitsa, his men entered the city from the Mystras Gate, along with the men of Krevvatas, Giatrakos, Kefalas, and the bishop Theodoretos of Vresthena. The following year, he participated in the destruction of the expeditionary army of

Mahmud Dramali Pasha Dramalı Mahmud Pasha, (Turkish: ''Dramalı Mahmut Paşa''; c. 1770 in Istanbul – 26 October 1822, in Corinth) was an Ottoman Albanian statesman and military leader, and a pasha, and served as governor (''wali'') of Larissa, Drama, and the Mo ...

, commanding 600 armed men from Androusa and Leontari along with Kefalas and

Mitropetrovas Mitros Petrovas or Mitropetrovas ( el, Μήτρος Πέτροβας, Μητροπέτροβας; 1745 – 12 March 1838) was a military leader of the Greek War of Independence from Messenia and one of the leaders of the anti-government riots durin ...

. After the fall of Tripolitsa, he became a member of the

Peloponnesian Senate The Senate of the entire People of the Peloponnese provinces ( el, Γερουσία όλου του Δήμου των επαρχιών της Πελοποννήσου), commonly known as the Peloponnesian Senate (), was a provisional regime that ...

and representative of the province of Emplakia. In July 1823 he was accused of abuse of power by residents of the province. Later, during the

Greek civil wars of 1824–25 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 ...

, being on the side of

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis ( el, Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis's g ...

, he was imprisoned for a while by the Kountouriotis Government. He also took part in the military operations against the Egyptian expeditionary force of Ibrahim Pasha in the Peloponnese. Specifically, he participated in the battle of Trampala, having under his command 767 men. After the negative outcome of the battle for the Greeks, he took refuge in

Chrysovitsi Chrysovitsi ( el, Χρυσοβίτσι) is a mountain village and a community in the municipal unit of Falanthos, Arcadia, Greece. At the 2011 census its population was 33 for the village and 58 for the community, which includes the village Mantai ...

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

, together with

Dimitris Plapoutas ) , birth_place = Paloumpa, Morea Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) , death_place = Paloumpa, Kingdom of Greece , allegiance = * First Hellenic Republic * Kingdom of Greece , branch = * Filiki Etaireia * , serviceyears = ...

, and

Kanellos Deligiannis Kanellos Deligiannis ( el, Κανέλλος Δεληγιάννης; 1780–1862) was a Greek magnate from the Morea and the son of Ioannis Deligiannis. He was one of the main organizers of the Greek War of Independence and a politician in the ind ...

. On 24 June 1825, he participated in the battle of Trikorfa, being in charge of distributing ammunition to the soldiers. The battle ended with the defeat of the Greeks and with Papatsonis falling in battle. His body was desecrated by opponents, who removed his weapons, his gold-embroidered clothing, and a sum of 350 pounds that he carried on him.Vakalopoulos, 1986, vo. 7, p. 155-158.

References

Bibliography

*''Αρχεία της Ελληνικής Παλιγγενεσίας, 1821 – 1832'', Έκδοσις Βιβλιοθήκης της Βουλής των Ελλήνων – εκ του Εθνικού Τυπογραφείου, τόμος 9ος, Αθήναι, 1976. *Αποστόλου Ε. Βακαλοπούλου, ''Ιστορία του Νέου Ελληνισμού'', τόμος ΣΤ', Θεσσαλονίκη 1982. *Αποστόλου Ε. Βακαλοπούλου, ''Ιστορία του Νέου Ελληνισμού'', τόμος Ζ', Θεσσαλονίκη 1986. *Διονυσίου Κοκκίνου, ''Η Ελληνική Επανάστασις'', εκδόσεις Μέλισσα, έκτη έκδοσις, Αθήναι 1974. *Παπατσώνης, Παναγιώτης. Απομνημονεύματα. Αθήνα: Εθνικό Τυπογραφείο 1960. *Φραντζής, Αμβρόσιος. ''Επιτομή της Ιστορίας της αναγεννηθείσης Ελλάδος, Τόμος Πρώτος''. Αθήνα: Εκ της Τυπογραφίας Η Βιτώρια του Κωνστ. Καστόρχη και Συντροφίας 1839.
Φώτιος Χρυσανθόπουλος, ''Βίοι Πελοποννησίων ανδρών και των εξώθεν εις την Πελοπόννησον ελθόντων κληρικών, στρατιωτικών και πολιτικών των αγωνισαμένων τον αγώνα της επαναστάσεως'', Αθήναι, 1888
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papatsonis, Dimitrios 1790s births 1825 deaths Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence Greek military personnel killed in action People from Messenia

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography