Georgios Stephanou (, 1824–1901) was a Greek

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

officer and revolutionary. He was one of the leaders of the Greek revolt in Epirus in 1878.

Biography

Stephanou was born in 1824 in Qeparo, Himara,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, in modern

southern Albania Southern Albania () is one of the three NUTS-2 Regions of Albania. It consists of five counties: Berat, Fier, Gjirokastër, Korçë and Vlorë. Combined, they have a population of 700,000 as of the 2023 census. The southwestern part of the c ...

. He joined the Greek gendarmerie in 1849. In 1877, in an effort to take advantage of the ongoing Russo-Turkish War, he received orders from Greek government to discuss with the Albanian beys of the regions of Kurvelesh and Himara, a combined armed uprising in

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

and Albania, both regions being under Ottoman rule that time. However the new cabinet of Alexandros Koumoundouros rejected the possibility of an alliance with Albanians and preferred the idea of a Greek revolution in Ottoman Epirus. In 1878, as a gendarmerie major he was appointed as one of the leaders of an anti-Ottoman revolt in Epirus, leading a group of 700 Greek Epirotes. His troops landed in the coastal region of

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

on February 11, 1878.Kaphetzopoulos, Flokas, Dima-Dimitriou, 2000
p. 15
"... a corps of almost 700 volunteers, under the leadership of a northern Epirot captain of the Gendarmerie, G. Stephanou landed on the shores of Agioi Saranta on 11 February 1878 and advanced towards the interior... In the meantime, the Treaty of San Stefano ... was signed on 3 March 1878 (NS)... In Epirus, the volunteer corps of G. Stephanou encountered not only powerful Turkish forces, but also Turk -Albanian irregulars, and was forced to retreat with considerable losses... The Turk-Albanian troops turned against the region's Christian population and thousands of northern Epirots were forces to flee from their native land." They took control of the coastal strip opposite

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

and the surrounding in the region of Delvinë, as well as the coastal settlement of Saranda. The revolt initially spread to the adjacent regions. However, a numerically superior Ottoman force of 6,000 arrived, supported by Ottoman-Albanian irregulars, and suppressed the uprising. Stephanou escaped to Souli and from there returned to Greece.Skoulidas, p. 125 He reached the rank of colonel. He died at 1901.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephanou, Georgios 1824 births 1901 deaths Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece Hellenic Gendarmerie officers Greek colonels People from Himara