Dimitrios Tsitsimis ( Greek: Δημήτριος Τσιτσίμης) was a Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle.

Biography

Tsitsimis was born in the late 19th century in Üstrümce, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(now

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

). He was a tobacco trader in the profession but quickly took action to contribute to the Macedonian Struggle. He initially joined Georgios Karaiskakis' armed group, a local of Bogdanci, who became a coleader. He then set up his own small armed group and became leader. He acted in the regions of Strumica,

Gevgelija Gevgelija ( mk, Гевгелија; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of the North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point ...

, nearby

Doiran Lake Doiran Lake (, ''Dojransko Ezero''; , ''Límni Dhoïráni''), also spelled Dojran Lake is a lake with an area of shared between North Macedonia () and Greece (). To the west is the city of Nov Dojran (Нов Дојран), to the east the vill ...

and Kilkis. For some time he was the leader of the militia of the village Gabrovo of Strumica."Αφανείς Γηγενείς Μακεδονομάχοι", επιστημονκή επιμέλεια Ιωάννης Σ. Κολιόπουλος, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών (ΕΜΣ), University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 2008, p. 182 He was pursued by 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 ...

komitadjis and the Ottoman authorities but was never caught. During 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 ...

he participated as a volunteer and undertook various missions in

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

, as a detector and guide of the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

. After the end of the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

and the migration of the Greeks of Strumica, he settled in Kilkis where he continued to practice his profession, tobacco trading. He was the first Greek mayor of Kilkis. He was also the director of the first group of scouts of Kilkis. For his national action, he was awarded several times by the Greek state. His military equipment and his weapons are displayed at the Macedonian Struggle Museum in

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 ...

References

Sources

* Κωνσταντίνος Βακαλόπουλος, Ο Μακεδονικός Αγώνας (1904-1908), Η ένοπλη φάση, Thessaloniki, 1987
Περιφερειακή Εφορεία Προσκόπων Κιλκίς, Ο Προσκοπισμός στο Κιλκίς

Κοινωνία Πολιτών Ν. Κιλκίς, 27 Οκτωβρίου 2008, Ιωάννης Τσιτσίμης, "Η χαμένη τιμή του καπετάν Μίκη Ζέζα, Στη μνήμη του οπλαρχηγού Β΄, Στρώμνιτσας, Δημήτρη Τσιτσίμη"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsitsimis, Dimitrios Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle Greek Macedonians People from Strumica Macedonian revolutionaries (Greek) Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars