Ioannis Dimakopoulos ( el, Ιωάννης Δημακόπουλος, 1833/35–1866) was an officer of the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...

from Arcadia. He participated as a volunteer in the Cretan Revolution of 1866 and he was killed during the holocaust of

Arkadi Monastery The Arkadi Monastery (in Greek: / Μονή Αρκαδίου) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery, situated on a fertile plateau 23 km (14 mi) to the southeast of Rethymnon on the island of Crete in Greece. The current catholicon (church) ...

Biography

Ioannis Dimakopoulos was born in

Vytina Vytina ( el, Βυτίνα, ''Vytína'') is a mountain village and a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. It is considered a traditional settlement. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Gortynia ...

of Arcadia on 10 January 1833,Κάρολος Ε. Μωραΐτης, ''Ιωάννης Δημακόπουλος (1833–1866) Ο ηρωικός φρούραρχος της Ιεράς Μονής Αρκαδίου'', εκδόσεις Πελασγός, 2007, p. 16 – 17. or, according to another theory, on 20 March 1835. He was the son of Konstantinos Dimakopoulos, 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. The Greeks were later assisted ...

and later officer of the

. His mother's name was Eleni. After finishing high school he fought as a volunteer in 1854 in the Revolution of Thessaly during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

. On 16 January 1856, he enlisted as a volunteer in the army and on 18 January 1863 he was promoted to the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

. Shortly before the outbreak of the Cretan Revolution of 1866 he served as adjutant under the command of

Gennaios Kolokotronis Ioannis Kolokotronis ( el, Ιωάννης Κολοκοτρώνης; 1805–1868), or Gennaios Kolokotronis ( el, Γενναίος Κολοκοτρώνης) as he was nicknamed, was a Greek warrior of the Greek War of Independence, General and Prime ...

. During 1866, Dimakopoulos went to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

along with other officers, under the command of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Panos Koronaios. They disembarked at Bali of Mylopotamos on 24 September. A few days later, he was appointed by Koronaios commander of Arkadi Monastery and leader of a small force of forty men, who had come to Crete as volunteers from the mainland

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. On 6 November, a powerful force of Ottoman troops encircled the monastery, while the number of the defenders were about 250–300 men. Two days later began the hostilities that led to the fall of the monastery on 9 November. Ioannis Dimakopoulos

Some of the survivors said that Dimakopoulos continued to fight on with some men after the explosion of gunpowder that led to the holocaust of Arkadi, but that eventually on the same day he was caught as a prisoner and speared to death. According to another theory, Dimakopoulos was killed by the deadly blast.Κάρολος Ε. Μωραΐτης, 2007, p. 54-55.

References

Bibliography

*Karolos E. Moraitis, ''Ιωάννης Δημακόπουλος (1833–1866) – Ο ηρωικός φρούραρχος της Ιεράς Μονής Αρκαδίου'', εκδόσεις Πελασγός, 2007 *Nikolas S. Psychas, ''Επαναστατική εικών των Δυτικών της Κρήτης διαμερισμάτων, ή ανασκευή χωρίων τινών της περιγραφουσης τον Εθνικόν Αγώνα της Κρήτης κατά των Τούρκων. πραγματείας του καθηγητού Μενδελσώνος Βαρθόλδου'', Αθήνησι 1870. *Magazine ''Νέα Εστία'', 1 November 1966, vol. 944, p. 1494.

External links

The holocaust of Arkadi Monastery
(Greek) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimakopoulos, Ioannis 1866 deaths Hellenic Army officers Greek military personnel killed in action 19th-century Greek military personnel Year of birth uncertain People from Vytina