Staikos Staikopoulos ( Greek Στάικος Σταϊκόπουλος, 1799–1835) was a participant in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

Biography

Staikopoulos was born at

Zatouna Zatouna ( el, Ζάτουνα) is a mountain village and a community in the municipal unit of Dimitsana, western Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. It is situated on a mountain slope at about 1000 m elevation, west of the river Lousios. In 2011 Zatouna ...

Gortynia Gortynia ( el, Γορτυνία) is a municipality in the Arcadia regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Dimitsana. The municipality has an area of 1,050.882 km2. Municipality The municipality Gortynia w ...

, in

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

and from an early age was involved in the fur trade. On the island of

Hydra Hydra generally refers to: * Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpent in Greek mythology * ''Hydra'' (genus), a genus of simple freshwater animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria Hydra or The Hydra may also refer to: Astronomy * Hydra (constel ...

, where he went in 1818, he was recruited to the Filiki Eteria by Nikolaos Speliotopoulos. In 1821, upon the outbreak of the war, he raised his own company of troops and departed Hydra for Argos. He began at once a siege of Nafplio and quickly turned one of its commanders to his side. At last on 29 November 1822, along with Demetrios Moschonesios, he took the fortress of Palamidi, the feat for which he is best remembered in the history books. Afterwards he was promoted from chiliarch to

strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...

( general). Following this he laid siege to the fort of Corinth, which fell under his occupation. He was the first to face Ibrahim Pasha, from whom he took thirty prisoners, who were sent to Nafplio. He had a seat in the

Second National Assembly at Astros The Second National Assembly at Astros ( el, Βʹ Εθνοσυνέλευση στο Άστρος) was the second Greek National Assembly, a national representative body of the Greeks who had rebelled against the Ottoman Empire. It convened at As ...

.Στάικος Σταϊκόπουλος
/ref> By leave of King Othon he remained in the army, although under guard, since he was opposed to the king's government.

Death

He died on 21 February 1835, the day of his release from prison, in the guardhouse of Leonardou in Nafplio, from the wounds and hardships of war, and was buried in the old city cemetery.

Memorial

Today the municipality maintains in his honour a ''Staikopoulos Park'', where every year on November 29 a commendation ceremony is held. In recognition of the fact that Zatouna is his birthplace and Nafplio the place of his death, the two have become sister-cities. Staikopoulos was married to Katerina Demetrakopoulou and had a daughter, Zacharoula.

References

1799 births 1835 deaths Greek generals Greek revolutionaries Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence People from Dimitsana {{Greece-mil-bio-stub