Giannis Chondrogiannis or Hondrogiannis (; c. 1761–1835) was a Greek revolutionary of 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. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...
and a politician. He also worked as the bodyguard of
Asimakis Zaimis, an influential Greek revolutionary and politician.
Biography
The leading figures of the Greek War of Independence had scheduled the
Greek Revolution for March 25; however, without them knowing it, on March 15, 1821, Chondrogiannis asked permission from the revolutionary Asimakis Zaimis to ambush Ottoman tax collector Seidis Laliotis, Greek banker Nikolaos Tampakopoulos, and his secretary Nikolaos Giannakopoulos at Chelonospilia, a place at the village Lykouria, near
Kalavryta
Kalavryta () is a town and a municipality in the mountainous east-central part of the regional unit of Achaea, Greece. The town is located on the right bank of the river Vouraikos, south of Aigio, southeast of Patras and northwest of Tripoli, G ...
, in order to confiscate the money they were transferring to
Tripolis.
The next day, Chondrogiannis and his six children attacked the Turkish delegation, but failed to capture or inflict harm on Seidis and Tampakopoulos, who escaped. Among the ones they managed to capture was Giannakopoulos, from whom they took some money belonging to Tampakopoulos; they handed the confiscated sum over to Zaimis, who used it to fund revolutionary causes.
Soon, the story circulated among the local Ottoman Turks who came to believe that the Revolution had started and subsequently begun fortifying themselves in the castles of
Patras
Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...
,
Aigio
Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' (, ; ), is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the mun ...
and Kalavryta. Seeing that the Ottomans had initiated the fortification process, the Greeks started the Revolution earlier than they had originally planned.
After the Revolution, Giannakopoulos filed a lawsuit against Chondrogiannis demanding that he received a compensation as a victim of robbery. The court accepted the accusations. Although the money Chondrogiannis stole had been given to the leaders of the Revolution, and were managed exclusively by them, all of Chondrogiannis' property was confiscated; he was convicted of robbery and imprisoned at
Bourtzi,
Nafplion.
After the conviction of their father and the verdict pertaining to the confiscation of his property, Chondrogiannis' children resorted to crime so as to survive; although many appeals for pardon and amnesty were made by the Chondrogiannis family, the newly established Greek State eventually arrested and executed all six of them. Another man who had helped Chondrogiannis steal Tampakopoulos' money, Petiotis, was not prosecuted, despite his involvement.
The Chondrogiannis family
The Chondroyannos surname is believed to have been incorporated during the period of Ottoman rule in Greece (14th to 19th centuries). As is often dictated by Greek custom, the forenames of family members are passed on from preceding generations. Additionally, traditional
Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
/
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
forenames are common within the Chondroyannos lineage.
Chondroyannos is a family name of lineage most commonly associated to members of the
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Omogenia (), are the communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus.
Such places historically (dating to the ancient period) include, Greeks in Albania, Albania, Greeks in North Macedonia, North Maced ...
from the
Dodecanese
The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...
region of
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. Prior to taking root in the Dodecanese, family members resided in
Asia Minor
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
(present day, western coastal
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
) for what is believed to have been centuries before a massive population exchange between Greece and Turkey; which took place in the early 20th century. In accordance with the stipulations of the
Treaty of Lausanne, the Chondroyannos family, along with an estimated 1,500,000 Greeks, were forcibly relocated within the area of Greece's then newly defined boundary. Later in the same century, only a small number from the clan established themselves in communities outside Greece (
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the
United States of America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
are known). The surname was transliterated during the family's migration from Greece to produce the Latin phonetic spelling. The original Greek name is known to be shared by Hellenes in other regions of Greek society.
When translating, today's Hellenes of Greece and Europeans who have the surname Chondroyannos more commonly spell the name using a shallow orthographic method, relating each Greek letter to a corresponding letter in the Latin alphabet. This literal translation of the surname Chondroyannos thus becomes Hondrogiannos or Hondrogiannis.
References
*''Istoria tis Ellinikis Epanastasis'' (''Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επανάστασης'', "History of the Greek Revolution"),
Spyridon Trikoupis,
Nea Synora, A. A. Livani, Athens 1993 SET
*''Peloponisii agonistes tou 1821, Nikitara apomnimonevmata'' (''Πελοποννήσιοι αγωνιστές του 1821, Νικηταρά απομνημονεύματα,'' "Peloponnesian Revolutionary Leaders in 1821,
Nikitaras' memoirs"), Fotakos, Vergina publishers, Athens 1996
*''Fotakou apomnimonevmata'' (''Φωτάκου απομνημονεύματα'', Fotakou's memoirs), Vergina, 1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chondrogiannis, Giannis
1760s births
1835 deaths
People from the Ottoman Empire
People from Kleitoria
Greek people of the Greek War of Independence