Hasan Tahsin Pasha (1845–1918), also known as Hasan Tahsin Mesarea, was a senior Ottoman military officer, who served 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 ...

, and in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

Biography and career

Hasan Tahsin was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

, born in Mesare (located in Albania on the border with Greece), which at the time was part of the ''

kaza A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...

'' of

Leskovik Leskovik is a town and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Kolonjë. It is located right at the Greek-Albanian border. The population ...

. During his youth, he attended and graduated from the Greek

Zosimaia School The ''Zosimaia'' School ( el, Ζωσιμαία Σχολή, ''Zosimaía Scholí'') of Ioannina (in Epirus) has been one of the most significant Greek middle-level educational institutions (high schools) during the last period of Ottoman rule in th ...

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

, and spoke Greek fluently. He began service as a gendarme ca. 1870 in

Katerini Katerini ( el, Κατερίνη, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Pieria regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, ...

, and later joined the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

as an NCO. He soon received a commission as an officer, and by 1881 he commanded the

Ottoman Gendarmerie The Ottoman Gendarmerie ( tr, Jandarma), also known as ''zaptı'', was a security and public order organization (a precursor to law enforcement) in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire. The first official gendarmerie organization was founded in 1869. ...

at Ioannina. During the

, he commanded the 6th Trabzon Division, and around 1900, he was placed as garrison commander of

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 ...

. In 1908–1910, he served as the governor of

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

before returning to Thessaloniki, where he assumed the post of commanding officer of the III Corps with the rank of '' Ferik'' (Lieutenant General). After his retirement in 1912, he was persuaded to return to duty as governor-general of the Ioannina Vilayet. As tensions with the

Balkan League The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the ...

grew at however over the summer of 1912, he was switched to command the VIII Provisional Corps at Thessaloniki. After the outbreak of the

, he led his forces against the Greek Army of Thessaly under Crown Prince Constantine. The Greek army, better prepared and outnumbering his own forces, defeated VIII Corps in the battles of

Sarantaporo Sarantaporo ( el, Σαραντάπορο) is a village and a former municipality in the Larissa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Elassona, of which it is a municipal unit. Pop ...

and Yenidje. Surrounded and blockaded in Thessaloniki and with no hope of outside succor, and learning of the approach of the 7th Bulgarian Division from the northeast, Hasan Tahsin resolved to surrender the Thessaloniki fortress and his 26,000 men to the Greeks. After a few days of negotiations, a surrender protocol was signed on , with the handover carried out the next day. The Ottoman side immediately considered him a traitor and a court martial gave a death sentence.

Exile

After his release from Greek captivity, he went into exile, first in France and later in Switzerland. He died in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

in 1918 and was buried there. In 1937, his remains were transferred to the Albanian cemetery of Thessaloniki, and in 2006 to the Military Cemetery of the Balkan Wars at Gefyra. Out of his seven children only three lived long lives, two sons and a daughter who got married in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. One of his sons, Kenan Messare (1889–1965), who was his adjutant during the war, became a Greek citizen and a notable painter, known especially for his scenes of battles from 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 ...

. The other son Qemal Messare moved to Albania, worked as a functionary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in King Zog's Residence, and was appointed Ambassador to Greece in January 1933, where he served until 1934.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahsin, Hasan 1845 births 1918 deaths Ottoman Army generals Ottoman prisoners of war Ottoman people of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) 19th-century Ottoman military personnel Ottoman governors of Yemen Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Balkan Wars prisoners of war held by Greece Zosimaia School alumni Albanians from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century Albanian people Albanian Pashas People from Përmet