Ioannis Simanikas ( Greek: Ιωάννης Σημανίκας) was a Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle.

Biography

Simanikas was born in Naousa of Imathia in the late 19th century. He firstly collaborated with the

Ethniki Etaireia The Ethniki Etaireia ( el, Εθνική Εταιρεία, "National Society") was a secret Greek nationalistic organization created in November 1894, by a number of young nationalist officers, advocates of the ''Megali Idea''. Its aim was to revive ...

and then with the

Macedonian Committee The Macedonian Committee ( gr, Μακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, ''Makedoniko Komitato''), formally the Hellenic Macedonian Committee (Ελληνομακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, ''Ellinomakedoniko Komitato''), was a Greek revolutionary ...

. Simanikas was a close associate of Dimitrios Kalapothakis, who proposed to him in August 1904 to serve under the orders of

Efthymios Kaoudis Efthymios Kaoudis ( el, Ευθύμιος Καούδης, 1866–1956) was a Greek revolutionary and the leader of the first Cretan armed group in Macedonia, during the Macedonian Struggle. Biography Efthymios Kaoudis was born in 1866 in the v ...

, who was acting in regions of Prespa and Florina. Later, leader of his own armed group, he firstly acted in Florina against 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 Mitro Vlachos and Athanas Karsakov, where he was distinguished for his boldness and courage. Later he collaborated with

Georgios Katechakis Georgios Katechakis ( el, Γεώργιος Κατεχάκης; 1881–1939) was a Hellenic Army officer and politician. He distinguished himself with his participation in the Macedonian Struggle under the nom de guerre ''Kapetan'' Rouvas (Καπε ...

in several operations. In 1906 he acted in the area of Imathia, as the former forces there were weakened. After the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

of the Young Turks he was forced to flee to

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 ...

for safety reasons. During 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 ...

he participated as a leader of his own team and he became one of the liberators of his hometown, Naousa.

Sources

* Γεώργιος Πετσίβας (editor), Ιωάννη Καραβίτη, Ο Μακεδονικός Αγών, Athens 1994, Vol. I, p. 136, 160. * Ιωάννης Σημανίκας, Η δράσις του οπλαρχηγού εκ Ναούσης Ιωάννου Σημανίκα κατά τον Μακεδονικό Αγώνα, Μακεδονικός Αγών, Vol. 15 (1930), p. 15-16 *

John S. Koliopoulos John S. Koliopoulos ( el, Ιωάννης Σ. Κολιόπουλος) (Ioannis Koliopoulos in modern transliteration) was a Greek historian, born in the village of Votani, Kastoria in 1942. He was the author of ''Plundered loyalties: Axis occupat ...

(editor), Αφανείς, γηγενείς Μακεδονομάχοι, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 2008, p. 38
Ο Αγών εις την Κεντρικήν και Ανατολικήν Μακεδονία, Πηγή: Ο Μακεδονικός Αγών και τα εις Θράκην γεγονότα, ΓΕΣ, 1979
Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle Greek Macedonians People from Naousa, Imathia Macedonian revolutionaries (Greek) Year of birth missing Year of death missing Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek people from the Ottoman Empire {{Greece-bio-stub