Dimitrios Papatsonis (; c. 1798 – 24 June 1825) was a fighter 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 ...

from the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

. He was killed at the age of 27 in June 1825 during the

battle of Trikorfa A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

against the Egyptian forces of

Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt Ibrahim Pasha ( ''Ibrāhīm Bāshā''; 1789 – 10 November 1848) was an Egyptian general and politician; he was the commander of both the Egyptian and Ottoman armies and the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Ottoman Wāli and unrecognized Khedi ...

Biography

Dimitrios Papatsonis was born in the village of Naziri,

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a prefecture (''nomos' ...

(later renamed Eva, now part of the municipality of

Messini Messini (, before 1867: Νησί ''Nisi'') is a municipal unit (''dimotiki enotita'') and the seat town (''edra'') of the municipality (''dimos'') of Messini within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifere ...

) and his family was one of the most prominent in the region before the revolution.Fotakos, 1888, p. 99. He was the son of the governor of the province of

Androusa Androusa () is a village and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Messini, of which it is a mun ...

, Anagnostis Papatsonis, who died from poisoning in 1811, and brother of Ioannis Papatsonis. Dimitrios Papatsonis participated in the

Greek Revolution 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 played an important role in the Liberation of Kalamata on March 23, 1821, as the leader of a militant group of over a thousand Messenian fighters, including great chiefs such as Mitros Petrovas and

Panagiotis Kefalas Panagiotis Kefalas (Greek: Παναγιώτης Κεφάλας) was a Greek fighter of the Greek War of Independence. Biography He hailed from Dirrachi in the Androusa province, but was unrelated to the Kefalas magnate family. He took part in ...

. Later, he participated in the seizure of

Kyparissia Kyparissia () is a town and a former municipality in northwestern Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has ...

(26 March), which had been abandoned by the local Ottomans, and then he went along with other Greek rebels to

Karytaina Karytaina or Karitaina () is a village and a community in Arcadia, Greece. Karytaina is situated on a hill on the right bank of the river Alpheios, near its confluence with the Lousios. The village dates back to the Middle Ages, but its history ...

, one of the first strongholds of the revolution. In May 1821 he participated in the

battle of Valtetsi The Battle of Valtetsi was fought on 24 May, 1821 in Valtetsi between the Ottoman army and Greek revolutionaries. Background The Greek War of Independence officially began on 25 March 1821. During the war, the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, c ...

and in July of the same year he was appointed one of the lieutenants of the Messenian forces that took part in the

siege of Tripolitsa The siege of Tripolitsa or fall of Tripolitsa (, ), also known as the Tripolitsa massacre (), was an early victory of the revolutionary Greek forces in the summer of 1821 during the Greek War of Independence, which had begun earlier that year ...

. During the fall of Tripolitsa, his men entered the city from the Mystras Gate, along with the men of Krevvatas, Giatrakos, Kefalas, and the bishop Theodoretos of Vresthena. The following year, he participated in the destruction of the expeditionary army of

Mahmud Dramali Pasha Mahmud Dramali Pasha, ( Turkish: ''Dramalı Mahmut Paşa''; c. 1770 in Istanbul – 26 October 1822, in Corinth) was an Ottoman Turkish statesman and military leader, and a pasha, and served as governor (''wali'') of Larissa, Drama, and the Mo ...

, commanding 600 armed men from Androusa and Leontari along with Kefalas and Mitropetrovas. After the fall of Tripolitsa, he became a member of the

Peloponnesian Senate The Senate of the entire People of the Peloponnese provinces (), commonly known as the Peloponnesian Senate (), was a provisional regime that existed in the Peloponnese during the early stages of the Greek War of Independence. History On 25 Marc ...

and representative of the province of Emplakia. In July 1823 he was accused of abuse of power by residents of the province. Later, during the

Greek civil wars of 1824–25 Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

, being on the side of

Theodoros Kolokotronis Theodoros Kolokotronis (; 3 April 1770 – ) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire. The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt ...

, he was imprisoned for a while by the Kountouriotis Government. He also took part in the military operations against the Egyptian expeditionary force of Ibrahim Pasha in the Peloponnese. Specifically, he participated in the battle of Trampala, having under his command 767 men. After the negative outcome of the battle for the Greeks, he took refuge in

Chrysovitsi Chrysovitsi () is a mountain village and a community in the municipal unit of Falanthos, Arcadia, Greece. The community includes the village Mantaiika, 5 km southeast of Chrysovitsi. Built on the slopes of Mainalo at 1,100 m, Chrysovitsi is ...

of Arcadia, together with

Dimitris Plapoutas Dimitris 'Koliopoulos' Plapoutas () (1786 – 1865) was a Greek general who fought during the Greek War of Independence against the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Biography Plapoutas was born on in Paloumba in the Arcadia region of the Pelo ...

, and

Kanellos Deligiannis Kanellos Deligiannis (; c. 1780–1862) was a Greece, Greek magnate from the Morea and the son of :el:Ιωάννης Δεληγιάννης, Ioannis Deligiannis. He was one of the main organizers of the Greek War of Independence and a politician ...

. On 24 June 1825, he participated in the battle of Trikorfa, being in charge of distributing ammunition to the soldiers. The battle ended with the defeat of the Greeks and with Papatsonis falling in battle. His body was desecrated by opponents, who removed his weapons, his gold-embroidered clothing, and a sum of 350 pounds that he carried on him.Vakalopoulos, 1986, vo. 7, p. 155-158.

References

Bibliography

*''Αρχεία της Ελληνικής Παλιγγενεσίας, 1821 – 1832'', Έκδοσις Βιβλιοθήκης της Βουλής των Ελλήνων – εκ του Εθνικού Τυπογραφείου, τόμος 9ος, Αθήναι, 1976. *Αποστόλου Ε. Βακαλοπούλου, ''Ιστορία του Νέου Ελληνισμού'', τόμος ΣΤ', Θεσσαλονίκη 1982. *Αποστόλου Ε. Βακαλοπούλου, ''Ιστορία του Νέου Ελληνισμού'', τόμος Ζ', Θεσσαλονίκη 1986. *Διονυσίου Κοκκίνου, ''Η Ελληνική Επανάστασις'', εκδόσεις Μέλισσα, έκτη έκδοσις, Αθήναι 1974. *Παπατσώνης, Παναγιώτης. Απομνημονεύματα. Αθήνα: Εθνικό Τυπογραφείο 1960. *Φραντζής, Αμβρόσιος. ''Επιτομή της Ιστορίας της αναγεννηθείσης Ελλάδος, Τόμος Πρώτος''. Αθήνα: Εκ της Τυπογραφίας Η Βιτώρια του Κωνστ. Καστόρχη και Συντροφίας 1839.
Φώτιος Χρυσανθόπουλος, ''Βίοι Πελοποννησίων ανδρών και των εξώθεν εις την Πελοπόννησον ελθόντων κληρικών, στρατιωτικών και πολιτικών των αγωνισαμένων τον αγώνα της επαναστάσεως'', Αθήναι, 1888
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papatsonis, Dimitrios 1790s births 1825 deaths People from Messini Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence Greek military personnel killed in action

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography