Ptolemaios Sarigiannis ( el, Πτολεμαίος Σαρηγιάννης, c. 1882–1958) was a Greek

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

officer who rose to the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, holding senior staff positions during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 and serving as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff in 1925–1926.

Life

Ptolemaios Sarigiannis was born in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

in about 1882. He entered the

Hellenic Army 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 1900 and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers on 9 July 1903. He later completed his studies as a staff officer in the '' École Supérieure de Guerre''. In 1906–1908 he participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia against the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n-sponsored

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

(IMRO), serving in the Greek consulate of Monastir under the assumed name Kalamidis. In 1909 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and participated 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 1912–1913 as Commander of Engineers of the 3rd Infantry Division. Promoted to Captain in 1913 and Major in 1915, Sarigiannis joined the

Venizelist Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s. Main ideas Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek irredentism: T ...

Movement of National Defence, and served as chief of staff of the

Crete Division 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 ...

on the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

. Promoted to Lt. Colonel in 1917, he was again promoted to Colonel in 1919 in recognition of distinguished service during the May 1918

Battle of Skra-di-Legen The Battle of Skra-di-Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two-day battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located northeast of Mount Paiko, which is north-west of Thessaloniki, on May 29–30, 1918, on the Macedonian front of World War I ...

Sarigiannis played a crucial role in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, initially as chief of staff to the Army of Occupation in the

Smyrna Zone The city of Smyrna (modern-day İzmir) and surrounding areas were under Greek military occupation from 15 May 1919 until 9 September 1922. The Allied Powers authorized the occupation and creation of the Zone of Smyrna ( el, Ζώνη Σμύρν� ...

, as deputy chief of staff to the expanded

Army of Asia Minor The Army of Asia Minor ( el, Στρατιά Μικράς Ασίας, links=no) was the field army-level command controlling the Greek forces in Asia Minor (Anatolia) during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. History 1919 Following the Gree ...

during the 1921 operations, and finally as deputy chief of staff in the

Army of Thrace The Army of Thrace ( el, Στρατιά Θράκης) was a field army of the Hellenic Army in 1920–1922. It was created out of the National Defence Army Corps on 3 June 1920, and proceeded to occupy Eastern Thrace, defeating the local Ottoman f ...

. In this capacity he also participated in the February 1921 London Conference as a member of the Greek delegation under Prime Minister Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos. Following the collapse of the Greek front in August 1922, he participated in the Greek delegation to the Mudanya Armistice negotiations under Major General Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian. Sarigiannis was dismissed from the army shortly after, but was recalled to active service, promoted Major General and placed as head of the Hellenic Army General Staff (replacing Mazarakis-Ainian) in 1925, when general Theodoros Pangalos seized power. Sarigiannis was dismissed again on 31 August 1926, after Pangalos' fall, and was replaced by Mazarakis-Ainian. In 1944, after Greece was liberated from

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, he served briefly as Vice-Minister of Military Affairs. Prior to that, he was elected as a member of the National Council established by the National Liberation Front. He died in 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarigiannis, Ptolemaios 1880s births 1958 deaths 20th-century Greek people Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece Hellenic Army generals Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff Greek military personnel of World War I Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Military personnel from Piraeus Greek military personnel of the Macedonian Struggle Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars National Liberation Front (Greece) members