Vizier Ömer Pasha Vrioni (in

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 ...

spelling: Ομέρ Βρυώνης, ''Omer Vryonis'') was a leading Ottoman- Albanian figure in the Greek War of Independence.

Early life

Omer Vrioni was a Muslim Tosk Albanian from the village of Vrioni near

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in ...

(hence his surname), with a distinguished record in the battles in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. When Ali Pasha revolted against the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire. History The name ...

, Omer was his treasurer. He initially commanded the army tasked with defending the eastern approaches to Ioannina, but entered into an agreement with Ismail Pasha, the then commander-in-chief of the Sultan's forces, disbanding his army in exchange for the

pashalik Eyalets (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...

of Berat.Finlay, pp. 95-96. After the death of Ali Pasha Omer was among the commanders who were sent by Hurşid Ahmed Pasha, the new commander-in-chief, to suppress the Greek Revolution which had broken out in March 1821. On 24 April 1821, he defeated the Greeks at the Battle of Alamana and had their commander,

Athanasios Diakos Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas ( el, Αθανάσιος Νικόλαος Μασσαβέτας; 1788 – 24 April 1821) also known as Athanasios Diakos ( el, Αθανάσιος Διάκος) was a Greek military commander during the Greek War of ...

, impaled. Vrioni's advance was temporarily halted by

Odysseas Androutsos Odysseas Androutsos ( el, Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος; 1788 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis el, Οδυσσέας Βερούσης) was a Greek military and political commander in eastern mainland Greece and a prominent figure of the ...

who, with a handful of men, inflicted heavy casualties upon him at the Battle of the inn of Gravia on 8 May 1821.

Siege of Missolonghi

In late 1822, he and Mehmed Reshid Pasha joined forces to besiege the town of Missolonghi. The town was completely surrounded on 25 October, and might have fallen, had the locals left the city. However they resisted heroically and Vrioni resorted to negotiations in order to save his men, against the opinion of Mehmed Reshid and Yussuf Pasha. The besieged Greeks destroyed the morale of the Ottoman army and when they were reinforced by sea the novice Turkish captains and the two pashas scheduled their main assault for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

night, 24 December, calculating that the Greeks would be caught by surprise. However, the attack failed. Six days later, the siege was lifted.

Later career

As a result of this failure, the antagonism between Omer Vrioni and Mehmed Reshid escalated, resulting in his recall by the Porte in 1824, when he was assigned a command in Macedonia. During the later Russo-Turkish War of 1828, he led a 20,000 strong army in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the

siege of Varna The siege of Varna (July–September 29, 1828) was a battle during the Russo-Turkish War, 1828–1829. History Varna was held by the Ottoman army. An approach to Varna by Russian forces was first attempted on June 28, but the Russian ava ...

References

Sources

* * Brewer, David. ''The Greek War of Independence''. The Overlook Press, 2001. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrioni, Omer People from Berat Pashas Ottoman military personnel of the Greek War of Independence 19th-century Albanian people Albanians from the Ottoman Empire Omer Ali Pasha of Ioannina