Antonis Oikonomou ( el, Αντώνης Οικονόμου; 1785 – 16 December 1821) 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 ...

naval captain 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 ...

against the

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 ...

Life

Antonis was born in Hydra and became a sailor in a young age. Just before the start of the

his ship sunk near

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

. He then travelled 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 (" ...

to commission a new ship and there he was recruited to the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. (''ret ...

Papaflessas Grigorios Dimitrios Dikaios-Flessas (; 1788 – 25 May 1825), popularly known as Papaflessas () was a Greek priest and government official who became one of the most influential figures during the Greek War of Independence. The prefix () in th ...

. In the meantime, in Hydra, the leaders of the island did not want to lose their privileges given to them by the Ottomans, so initially they didn't join the revolution. Antonis, with the help of the members of Filiki Eteria from the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

, landed on the island (30 March 1821) and expelled the governor, Nikolaos Kokovilas. He then declared a state of war on 16 April 1821. Soon after, Hydra and its leading families joined the revolution, but the leaders decided to devised a conspiracy and managed to arrest Oikonomou since most of his supporters, which were sailors, were away from the island. After he was read his charges, relatives of his intervened and managed to help him escape to

Kranidi Kranidi ( el, , Katharevousa: ) is a town and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ermionida, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal ...

. There he was arrested again and put behind bars. Once more he managed to escape and traveled to Argos to meet with other revolutionary figures. Hearing this, the leaders of Hydra, worried that he will drum up help against them, sent a military contingent to kill him.

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis ( el, Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. Kolokotronis's g ...

discovered their plans and dispatched 200 men under Tsokris to protect Oikonomou. The men did not succeed to reach him on time and he was killed on 16 December 1821. In later years, however, Hydra did come to have a major role in the Greek Independence struggle, under

Andreas Miaoulis Andreas Vokos, better known by his nickname Miaoulis ( el, Ανδρέας Βώκος Μιαούλης; 1765 – 24 June 1835), was a Greek revolutionary, admiral, and politician who commanded Greek naval forces during the Greek War of Indepe ...

References

Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence People murdered in Greece 1775 births 1821 deaths People from Hydra (island) {{Greece-bio-stub