Ioannis Karavitis (

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 ...

: ''Ιωάννης Καραβίτης'' 1883–1949) was a

leader in 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 ...

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, ...

Biography

Karavitis was born in the autumn of 1883 in Anopolis in the area of

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 Crete. In 1903, while he was in Athens, he learned about Cretan forces going to Macedonia to fight and he decided to participate himself. After the Macedonian Struggle, he took part in armed conflicts in Crete and Samos, in the Balkan Wars and in the Epirote Struggle. He strongly disagreed with the outcome of the

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

and the establishment of different states 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 ...

and

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 metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

during the

First World War 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 ...

. Karavitis left Crete in 1929 and moved to Piraeus and later in Athens, where he rented the cafe "''Argolis''".I. Karavitis, p. 26 (κστ). A few years earlier, 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 ...

had established a guerrilla warfare lesson called "Karavitis’ Tactics", which included a surprising approach of the enemy, gathering information, swift attack and retreat. At the end of 1939 and beginning of 1940, Karavitis published in the "''Kritikos Kosmos''" (Greek: «Κρητικός Κόσμος») details of his struggles with plenty descriptions of the feats of Cretans. Later, he published what he remembered about the war in the newspaper "''Ellinikos Vorras''" (Greek: «Ελληνικός Βορράς») in Thessaloniki. The publication was launched on May 22, 1949, and ended on March 25, 1950, with a total of 236 sheets. In his memoirs more information about his participation in the Struggle were provided. He died on 30 October 1949. The funeral was held at public expense, with the military funeral honours of a general at the

First Cemetery of Athens The First Cemetery of Athens ( el, Πρώτο Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών, ''Próto Nekrotafeío Athinón'') is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a prestigious ceme ...

.I. Karavitis, p. 27 (κζ).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karavitis, Ioannis 1880s births 1949 deaths People of the Macedonian Struggle People from Sfakia Military personnel from Crete