Konstantinos Garefis (

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 ...

: Κωνσταντίνος Γαρέφης) was a

chieftain of 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

Garefis was born in 1874 in

Milies Milies () is a village and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality South Pelion, of which it is ...

of Magnesia. His grandfather, who was from

Souli Souli () is a municipality in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town of Paramythia. Name and history The origin of the name Souli is uncertain. In the earliest historical text about Souli, written by Christoforos ...

, was prosecuted by Ali Pasha, settled in Milies in order to get away. Garefis was of half Epirot and half

Sarakatsani The Sarakatsani (), also called Karakachani (), are an ethnic Greeks, Greek population subgroup who were traditionally Transhumance, transhumant shepherds, native to Greece, with a smaller presence in neighbouring Bulgaria, southern Albania, an ...

origin.

Armed actions

In 1905 Garefis joined the

and became the co-leader of Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian's armed group, acting mainly in Vermio. When the action of Konstantinos Mazarakis became known and his group had to be dissolved, Garefis replaced him by organizing his own armed group in the late 1905, expanding the range of action and restoring security to the area.

Final moments

On August 6, 1906, he discovered the hut in the village of Chernesovo Aridea (now Garefio), in which his enemies were hiding, the

komitadji Komitadji, Comitadji, or Komita (plural: Komitadjis, Comitadjis, or Komitas) ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and , , , , pl. , , ) was a collective name for members of various rebel bands ( chetas) operating in the Balkans during the final period of th ...

s Lucas and Karatasos. Captain Garefis, with no fear, entered the hut and killed Karatasos and heavily injured Lucas. However, during the clash, he was injured by the men of Luca. Garefis, despite his serious injury, insisted, before he left the field of battle, to see the result of it which was successful.Σκιαγραφία του ήρωα Κώστα Γαρέφη
, από την ιστοσελίδα: www.e-istoria.com και πηγή την έρευνα του Κώστα Λιάπη, "Καπετάν Κώστας Γαρέφης – Ο σταυραετός του Πηλίου", Β’ έκδ. Εξωραϊστικού – πολιτιστικού συλλόγου Μηλέων «Γρηγόριος Κωνσταντάς». Few days later he died because of the wounds on August 24, 1906. In 1922, Chernesovo got renamed to Garefio to honour him.

References

Sources

* Βασίλης Κ. Γούναρης,

, στην ιστοσελίδα /www.imma.edu.gr του Ιδρύματος Μουσείου Μακεδονικού Αγώνα. * Κώστας Λιάπης,
Κώστας Γαρέφης (1874-1906)

, "Μακεδόνες Μακεδονομάχοι", p. 58-60
Μακεδονομάχοι - Κωνσταντίνος Γαρέφης
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garefis, Konstantinos 1874 births 1906 deaths Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle Sarakatsani People killed in action People from Milies Greeks from the Ottoman Empire