Evangelos Natsis Georgiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Νάτσης Γεωργίου) also known as ''Strempeniotis'' or ''Kapetan Vangelis'',' was a Slavophone Greek soldier and revolutionary who participated 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 the Macedonian Struggle.

Early life

Evangelos Georgiou was born about 1876 in Srebreno,

Salonika Vilayet The Vilayet of Salonica ( ota, ولايت سلانيك, Vilâyet-i Selânik) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1867 to 1912. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of .Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(now Asprogeia, Florina regional unit). It is said that his held distant roots from Epirus. He moved to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in his youth where he worked as a milkman and a mason.

Armed Action

In 1897, he volunteered for military service in the

where he would take part in the

Battle of Velestino The Battle of Velestino ( el, Μάχη του Βελεστίνου, tr, Velestin Muharebesi) comprised two separate combats, which took place on – and –, between the Greek and Ottoman armies at Velestino in Thessaly, as part of the Greco-Tu ...

. He joined the Bulgarian

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

, However, he would defect to the Greek side following his dissatisfaction with their treatment of the Greek population and an attempt on his life by a Komitadji. He would participate in the Ilinden Uprising of 1903 independent from the IMRO. In 1904, as a Makedonomachos, he would form one of the first organized armed groups with external Greek support in the Macedonian Struggle. He co-operated with Germanos Karavangelis, who brought him in contact with volunteers who had just arrived 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, and ...

. He organized his own troop and inflicted many losses on the

, most importantly the extermination of the Voivode Kirchev. On 12 May 1904, returning from Monastir, he was killed in an ambush at Aetos, by the cheta of Aleksandar Turundzhev.

Legacy

He was survived by his daughter. A bust of him was erected in Kastoria in 1960. There is a statue of him in his birthplace of Asprogeia. File:195 Vangel Georgiev Srebreni Monument.jpg, Statue of Kapetan Vangelis in Asprogeia. File:Florina Evangelos Natsis.JPG, Evangelos Natsis (center), his daughter (right), and an unknown individual (left). File:Florina Macedonian Greek Natsis.JPG, The daughter of Evangelos Natsis.

Reference and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natsis, Evangelos 1870s births 1904 deaths People from Salonica vilayet Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece 19th-century Greek people Macedonian revolutionaries (Greek) People of the Macedonian Struggle Greeks from the Ottoman Empire People from Florina (regional unit)