Efthymios Kaoudis (, 1866–1956) was a

Greek 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 ...

revolutionary and the leader of the first Cretan armed group in

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 ...

, during 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 ...

Biography

Efthymios Kaoudis was born in 1866 in the village

Kallikratis Kallikratis () is a small village belonging to the municipality of Sfakia, in southwest Crete, Greece. According to tradition, it was named after the admiral (droungarios) Manoussos Kallikratis, who in March 1453 led a campaign to reinforce th ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. Before 1903 he left the island because of the assassination of Vouidas, chief of a gang of robbers, for which he was accused. After leaving his village, he moved to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

where he worked as a builder.Chotzidis, A. (1996). p. 11. By the end of 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 settled in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

where he died on 17 December 1956.

Military activity

Kaoudis was active in Macedonia from 1903 to 1906. During the Macedonian Struggle, they called him the "Old Kaoudis" because of his age and his distinction in the Cretan revolt of 1897. On 6 May 1903, he went to

and in June of the same year he became leader of a team of ten men. Then, he went to the

Florina Florina (, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the Florina regional uni ...

–

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

region where he remained for about two months, working against the Bulgarian VMRO's bands. In August 1903 he moved with his team to

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

and a year later he returned to

. In 1904 the newly established Macedonian Committee in Athens made him a proposal which he accepted and he went to Macedonia for the fourth time.Chotzidis, A. (1996). p. 14. On September 18, 1904 he managed with his team the first major damage against the Bulgarians in the battle of Trigono (then Ostima). After the

Pavlos Melas Pavlos Melas (; 29 March 1870 – 13 October 1904) was a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army. He participated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and was amongst the first Greek officers to join the Macedonian Struggle. ...

’ death (13 October 1904) Kaoudis temporarily assumed command of the forces in Western Macedonia. On November 14 of the same year, in collaboration with Katechakis’ group, he attempted attack against a Bulgarian wedding in Sklithro. The winter of 1904-1905 he acted in villages of the Korestia while on 25 March 1905 he participated in the attack against Vasileiada, which was organized by

Georgios Tsontos Georgios Tsontos () ( 1871–1942) also known with the ''nom de guerre'' Kapetan Vardas (Καπετάν Βάρδας), was a Greek guerrilla fighter, general, and later politician from Crete. Early life Georgios Tsontos was born in the village of ...

. In late August he acted again in the area of Korestia. Then, in late October, Kaoudis collided with Tsontos and continued his action in the villages of Peristeri. He stayed at Peristeri until the Easter of 1906, except from March that he went for a short time in Korestia. On 23 April 1906 the group of Kaoudis clashed with the Ottoman army in Kratero. During the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

, Efthymios Kaoudis took part in the operations for the liberation of

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

, and after that was accomplished moved to Macedonia. On 11 October he entered Siatista and the next day he clashed with the Turkish army and moved to the city of

Grevena Grevena (, ''Grevená'' ; ) is a town and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena (regional unit), Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 12,515 citizen ...

. In 1916 he joined the

Provisional Government of National Defence The Provisional Government of National Defence (), also known as the State of Thessaloniki (Κράτος της Θεσσαλονίκης), was a parallel administration, set up in the city of Thessaloniki by former Prime Minister Eleftherios Ve ...

, and during the Allied

Occupation of Constantinople The occupation of Istanbul () or occupation of Constantinople (12 November 1918 – 4 October 1923), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, by British, French, Italian, and Greek forces, took place in accordance with the Armistice of Mudros, w ...

in 1919 he served in the Vlachopoulos battalion, garrisoned in the

Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( ) is a 19th-century imperial palace located in Istanbul, Turkey, along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922. Histor ...

, and served as military commander in

Fener Fener (; ), also spelled Phanar, is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. The Turkish name is derived from the Greek word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάριον), meaning lantern, streetlight o ...

. During the government of

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 ...

he was awarded the rank of captain. From 1927 onwards, he was an active member of the "Pavlos Melas" organization, which brought together many fighters of the Macedonian Struggle. During the

Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

, he left with his stepdaughter for

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

and then he went to

to avoid reprisals from the Bulgarians. After the occupation, he returned to Thessaloniki where he remained until his death on 17 December 1956. His funeral was held at public expense, with the III Army Corps rendering honours corresponding to a general in active service.Chotzidis, A. (1996). p. 20.

References

Bibliography

*Chotzidis, A., (ed.), 1996. «Ευθύμιος Καούδης. Ένας Κρητικός αγωνίζεται για τη Μακεδονία. Απομνημονεύματα (1903-1907)», Museum of Macedonian Struggle, Thessaloniki. *Dakin, D., Mazarakis – Ainian, K. I., Kofos, E., Diamantouros, N. I., 1985. «Μακεδονικός Αγώνας», Εκδοτική Αθηνών, Athens. *Gounaris, B., (ed.), 1992. «Φθινόπωρο του 1904 στη Μακεδονία. Το ανέκδοτο ημερολόγιο του Μακεδονομάχου Ευθύμιου Καούδη», Museum of Macedonian Struggle, Thessaloniki. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaoudis, Efthymios 1860s births 1956 deaths Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle People from Sfakia Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of World War I Hellenic Army officers Military personnel from Crete People from the Ottoman Empire