Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis (military commander)
Encyclopedia
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
revolutionary who fought in the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
.
He was born in Limeni in the Mani Peninsula
Mani Peninsula
The Mani Peninsula , also long known as Maina or Maïna, is a geographical and cultural region in Greece. Mani is the central peninsula of the three which extend southwards from the Peloponnese in southern Greece. To the east is the Laconian Gulf, to the west the Messenian Gulf...
, the son of Pierros Pierrakos with Katerina Koutsogrigorakos and was the baby brother of Petrobey. He died fighting in Splantza in 1822.
When the Greek War of Independence
Greek War of Independence
The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
broke out he organised a band of young Maniots
Maniots
The Maniots or Maniates are the Greek inhabitants of the Mani Peninsula located in the southern Peloponnese in the Greek prefecture of Laconia and prefecture of Messinia. They were also formerly known as Mainotes and the peninsula as Maina. The Maniots are the direct descendants of the Spartans...
into a fighting force. Kyriakoulis fought at Kalamata
Kalamata
Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...
, Methoni, Koroni
Koroni
Koroni or Coroni is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is a municipal unit. Known as Corone by the Venetians and Ottomans, the town of Koroni Koroni or Coroni is a...
and was present at the Siege of Tripolitsa
Siege of Tripolitsa
The Siege of Tripolitsa or the Fall of Tripolitsa to Greek rebels in the summer of 1821 marked an early victory in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, which had begun earlier in that year....
operation as commander-in-charge of the Valtetsi
Valtetsi (village)
The village named Valtetsi is located in the Central Peloponessus at a distance of 12 km. west of Tripolis and an altitude of 1.050 mts...
headquarters in the incipient revolutionary army.
He successfully defended the camp, twice, in the Battle of Valtetsi
Battle of Valtetsi
The Battle of Valtetsi was fought on May 12, 1821 in Valtetsi between the Ottoman army and Greek revolutionaries.-Background:The Greek War of Independence officially broke out on March 25, 1821. The city of Tripoli in Arcadia, central Peloponnesus, became a prime objective of the Greek...
, leading a far inferior force to strengthen their positions, allowing new reinforcements to succeed in repelling the Turkish attack.
With the war against Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha
Ali Pasha of Tepelena or of Yannina, surnamed Aslan, "the Lion", or the "Lion of Yannina", Ali Pashë Tepelena was an Ottoman Albanian ruler of the western part of Rumelia, the Ottoman Empire's European territory which was also called Pashalik of Yanina. His court was in Ioannina...
over, the Souliotes
Souliotes
Souliotes were a warlike community from the area of Souli, in Greece, who became famous across Greece for their resistance against the local Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina ruled by the Muslim Albanian Ali Pasha...
- who had sided with the Albanian against the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
- were in mortal danger because of Hursid Pasha
Hursid Pasha
Hurşid Ahmed Pasha was an Ottoman General and Grand Vizier during the early 19th century. He was of Georgian descent.- Early life :...
's constant attacks and siege. To deal with this, an inexpert commander Alexandros Mavrokordatos, who was not a soldier but a politician and future statesman, chose Kyriakoulis to command an expedition to bring relief and reinforcements.
On his way to Kiafa, his expeditionary force met action with a Turkish vanguard
Vanguard (military tactics)
The vanguard is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.- Medieval origins :...
near the seaside village Mourtos
Syvota
Syvota , formerly Mourtos til 1953, is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Igoumenitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 3,010...
, completely defeating their foes and taking a large number of prisoners. His decision to take his captives to imprisonment in the Peloponnesus rather than to massacre them, as was then common, showed his military ethics, but at the same time weakened his already small regiment composed by 500 Maniots plus some Philhellenes, mostly former Bonapartist French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
soldiers and young romantic Italian revolutionaries
Italian unification
Italian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
.
In his effort against a stronger and much more compact force under Omer Vryonis
Omer Vryonis
Omer Vrioni was a leading Ottoman figure in the Greek War of Independence.-Early life:Omer Vrioni was an Albanian from the village of Vrioni near Berat, with a distinguished record in the battles in Egypt against Napoleon. When Ali Pasha revolted against the Porte, Omer was his treasurer...
, but with the overall leadership of an excellent skillful commander like Hursid, who was an expert against guerrilla warfare, his band was at last defeated at an engagemnet in Splantza. The Maniots showed the same Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August...
spirit as their Spartan
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
ancestors fighting up to the last man. Kyriakoulis was killed on July 4, 1822 and was buried with honours in Mesolonghi.
Maniot tradition and folk songs, show how his younger brother's death strongly hurt the brave Petrobey's soul:
"Πετρόμπεης καθότανε ψηλά στο Πετροβούνι
κι εσφούγγιζε τα μάτια του μ΄ ένα χρυσό μαντήλι.
Τι έχεις Μπέη και χλίβεσαι και χύνεις μαύρα δάκρυα;
Σα με ρωτάς Κυριάκαινα και θέλεις για να μάθης;
Aπόψε μου ΄ρθαν γράμματα από το Μεσολόγγι
...τον Κυριακούλην σκότωσαν, τον πρώτο καπετάνιο
και στάζουνε τα μάτια μου και τρέχουν μαύρα δάκρυα."
"Petrobey was lying in the highlands of Petrovouni
Petrovouni, Messinia
Petrovouni is a small village on the escarpment above Kardamyli on the Mani Peninsula in Messenia on the southern Peloponnese peninsula of Greece...
wiping his eyes with a golden kerchief.
What's happening to you Bey, that you're so sad and black tears fall from your eyes?
Since you're asking Kyriakaina (Kyriakoulis' wife) and you want to know...
Tonight I got news from Mesolonghi ... Kyriakoulis was killed, the main captain.
This is why my eyes are full with black tears."
He was the grandfather of Kyriakoulis Petrou Mavromichalis, the politician and later Prime Minister but above all, for the Peloponnesians in general and for the Maniots in particular he became the icon of the sacrifice made in behalf of the freedom of Greece.