Athanasios Exadaktylos (, 1869–1936) was a

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

officer who rose to the rank of Major General and played an important role in the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. From 1904 to 1908 the conflict was p ...

and served in various high staff positions, including as Deputy Chief of the

Hellenic Army General Staff The Hellenic Army General Staff () is the general staff of the Hellenic Army, the terrestrial component of the Greek Armed Forces. It was established in 1904. Since 1950, the HAGS is subordinated to the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. T ...

Life

He was born in the island of

Andros Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and ...

in about 1869. He entered the

Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy (, ΣΣΕ), 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 Greece. It was founded in 1828 in Nafplio by Io ...

and graduated on 8 August 1891 as an Artillery 2nd Lieutenant. 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 (), was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and the O ...

, he fought as a battery commander in

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

. From 1904 until its end in 1908, he participated in the

with the cover name Antoniou. He roamed across central

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

under various guises, among others a teacher or a salesman, working as a spy and liaison with Greek communities and armed bands. During the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, he headed the Intelligence Bureau of the General Headquarters. His detailed maps, compiled during his journeys across Macedonia, proved invaluable during the war. Exadaktylos also served as a military expert in the Greek delegations to the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

peace conferences. In 1915 he was appointed in the Intelligence and Civil Affairs Directorate of the General Staff. Due to his monarchist convictions, he sided against

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

during the

National Schism The National Schism (), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos over Kingdom of Greece, Greece's foreign policy from 19 ...

and was dismissed from the army in 1917. Following Venizelos' electoral defeat in November 1920, Exadaktylos was recalled to active service, promoted to major general and placed as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Service. In 1921, he served briefly as Chief of Staff of the Interior Army, while the bulk of the Greek military was engaged in the

Asia Minor Campaign Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Following the Greek defeat in Asia Minor in August 1922 he was again dismissed and retired in 1923. He died in 1936.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exadaktylos, Athanasios 1860s births 1936 deaths Hellenic Army major generals Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff People from Andros Greek military personnel of the Macedonian Struggle Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897)