Efkleidis Kourtidis ( pnt, Ευκλείδης Κουρτίδης; 1885–1937) was a Greek resistance leader of Pontos. He fought Turkish troops from the

Pontic Alps The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps ( Turkish: ''Kuzey Anadolu Dağları'', meaning North Anatolian Mountains) form a mountain range in northern Anatolia, Turkey. They are also known as the ''Parhar Mountains'' in the local Turkish and Pontic Gr ...

near Sanda. He was born in the Ishanandon village of Sanda. Kourtidis was the head of Greek guerrilla forces based in the town of Santa (Dumanlı), Pontos, that resisted Turkish bands. Kourtidis' struggle with the Turkish army was prolonged; his guerrillas refused to come down from the mountains. However, he was still able to send messages to people outside of Sanda, including the Metropolitan of Rodopolis. During the Pontic Greek Genocide (1912–1922), he rescued a large number of women and children from the advancing Kemalist armies. They were finally transported safely to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. His statue is erected in

Nea Santa Nea Santa ( el, Νέα Σάντα, old name Volovot until 1926), is a small town in Kilkis regional unit, in the Central Macedonia region of Greece. It has a population of 1,693 (2011 census). The community Nea Santa (pop. 2,144 in 2011) consists ...

, Kilkis, Greece. The statue also bears the names of 141 known Greek genocide victims from Sanda. Upon his death in 1937, Kourtidis' friend wrote a song about him.

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Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kourtidis, Euklidis 1885 births 1937 deaths Ottoman Pontians Guerrillas Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece People from Gümüşhane