Georgios Tsontos ( el, Γεώργιος Τσόντος) (1871-1942) also known with the ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'' Kapetan Vardas (Καπετάν Βάρδας), 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 ...

guerrilla fighter, general, and later politician 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 ...

Early life

Georgios Tsontos was born in the village of Askifou in

Sfakia Sfakiá ( el, Σφακιά) is a mountainous area in the southwestern part of the island of Crete, in the Chania regional unit. It is considered to be one of the few places in Greece that have never been fully occupied by foreign powers. With a ...

, in 1871. His father Charalambos had distinguished himself as a rebel leader during the

Cretan Revolt (1866–69) Cretan Revolt may refer to one of the following uprisings in Crete: Under Venetian rule *Kingdom of Candia#First Cretan rebellions against Venice, Cretan Revolt (1212) of the Hagiostephanites family *Kingdom of Candia#First Cretan rebellions agains ...

against the

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) ...

, was assassinated in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 1874. Georgios entered the

Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

in 1888, graduating in 1893 as an Artillery Second Lieutenant.

Military career

In the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

, he participated in the Greek expeditionary force to Crete under Colonel

Timoleon Vassos Timoleon Vassos or Vasos ( el, Τιμολέων Βάσσος or Βάσος; 1836–1929) was a Hellenic Army officer and general. He was born in Athens in 1836, the younger son of the hero of the Greek Revolution Vasos Mavrovouniotis. He studied a ...

. There he would assist in the

Cretan Revolt (1897-1898) Cretan Revolt may refer to one of the following uprisings in Crete: Under Venetian rule * Cretan Revolt (1212) of the Hagiostephanites family * Cretan Revolt (1217) of the Skordiles and Melissenos families * Cretan Revolt (1222) of the Melissenos f ...

which would lead to the establishment of the

Cretan State The Cretan State ( el, Κρητική Πολιτεία, Kritiki Politeia; ota, كريد دولتى, Girid Devleti) was established in 1898, following the intervention by the Great Powers (United Kingdom, France, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany ...

. In 1904 he went to Ottoman-ruled Macedonia as part of the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...

, and spent two and a half years leading guerrilla detachments in the Monastir area to fight the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

and Bulgarian

Komitadji Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas (Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee memb ...

s. It was in Macedonia where operated under the ''

'' of ''Kapetan Vardas''. He also fought in 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 ...

of 1912–13 as a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. In 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 ...

against Bulgaria in particular, he once more led irregular forces to clear out eastern Macedonia from Bulgarian irregulars (

s). In 1914 he temporarily resigned his commission to join the armed forces of the

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus ( el, Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου, translit=Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou) was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aft ...

. During the North Epirote autonomy, he was named military and civil governor of Korytsa. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he organized guerrilla groups in

Northern Epirus sq, Epiri i Veriut rup, Epiru di Nsusu , type = Part of the wider historic region of Epirus , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_type = , image_map = Epirus across Greece Albania4.svg , map_caption ...

in order to operate against Albanian bands that were raiding the Greek populated areasLeon George B.
''Greece and the Great Powers, 1914-1917''
Institute for Balkan Studies, 1974, p. 443. In the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizel ...

, he supported the monarchists, and as a result found himself dismissed from the army in 1917–20.

Later career

Following the electoral victory of the monarchists in November 1920 he was reinstated, and served as commandant of the

and garrison commander of Athens. He retired from the army in February 1923 with the rank of major general. He was restored to inactive service in 1927 and finally in 1935, reaching the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. He also served as MP for

Florina Prefecture Florina ( el, Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Φλώρινας, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Flórinas'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, Greece. Its ...

in 1932-33 and for

Kastoria Prefecture Kastoria ( el, Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Καστοριάς, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Kastoriás'') is one of the 74 regional units of Greece and is part of the region of Western Macedonia. Its capital is the homonymous city of Kastor ...

in 1933-35. He died in

in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsontos, Georgios 1871 births 1942 deaths Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) People from Sfakia Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece Hellenic Army lieutenant generals Greek military personnel of the Macedonian Struggle Politicians from Crete Greek MPs 1932–1933 Greek MPs 1933–1935 Northern Epirus independence activists Governors-General of Crete