Nikolaos Zafeiriou ( el, Νικόλαος Ζαφειρίου; 1871 – 1947) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

artillery officer who rose to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. Zafeiriou was born in

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...

in 1871. After studies in the

Hellenic Military 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 ...

, he was commissioned as an Artillery 2nd Lieutenant in 1894. He fought 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 ...

. At the outbreak of 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 served in the staff of the

Army of Epirus The following is the order of battle of the Hellenic Army during the First Balkan War. Background Greece, a state of 2,666,000 people in 1912,Erickson (2003), p. 70 was considered the weakest of the three main Balkan League, Balkan allies, since ...

and later the 8th Infantry Division which was formed of it. After the Balkan Wars he attended the

École Militaire École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savo ...

in Paris. In 1916 he joined the Provisional Government of National Defence and commanded the 1st Regiment of the

Serres Division The Serres Division ( el, Μεραρχία Σερρῶν, Merarchia Serrōn) was an infantry division of Hellenic Army in World War I and the annexation of Western Thrace. Establishment The division began being raised in September 1916 by the Pro ...

on the Macedonian Front. In May 1919, as commander of the 1st Infantry Division, he led the

Greek landing at Smyrna The Greek landing at Smyrna ( el, Ελληνική απόβαση στη Σμύρνη; tr, İzmir'in İşgali, Occupation of İzmir) was a military operation by Greek forces starting on May 15, 1919 which involved landing troops in the city of S ...

and became the first head of the

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 ...

. In 1923, he served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, while in 1924 he was promoted to Major General and commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. Subsequently promoted further to Lieutenant General, he served consecutively as commander of the II, III and V Army Corps until his retirement in 1926. He died in Athens in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zafeiriou, Nikolaos 1871 births 1947 deaths Hellenic Army generals Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek military personnel of World War I People from Corinth