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Theodoros Kolokotronis | |
|---|---|
 Theodoros Kolokotronis. Portrait by Dionysios Tsokos. | |
| Native name | Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης |
| Nickname(s) | O Geros tou Moria (The Old Man of Morea) Ο Γέρος του Μοριά |
| Born | 3 April 1770 Ramοvouni, Messenia, Morea Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) |
| Died | 4 February 1843 (aged 72) Athens, Attica, Kingdom of Greece |
| Buried | 37°57′47.38″N 23°44′16.35″E / 37.9631611°N 23.7378750°E |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire United Kingdom First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece |
| Service |  Imperial Russian Navy.png){kind=small} British Army Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1785–1843 |
| Rank | Major (British Army) General-in-Chief (revolutionary forces) Lieutenant General (Hellenic Army) |
| Unit | 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry |
| Commands | Greek revolutionary forces |
| Wars | |
| Spouse(s) | Aikaterini Karousou |
| Children | Panos Kolokotronis (son) Ioannis (Gennaios) Kolokotronis (son) Konstantinos (Kolinos) Kolokotronis (son) Panos Kolokotronis (son) Eleni Kolokotroni (daughter) Georgios Kolokotronis (son) |
| Relations | Konstantinos Kolokotronis (father) Nikitas Stamatelopoulos (nephew) |
| Other work | Member of the Filiki Etaireia Member of the Russian Party |
| Signature |  |
Theodoros Kolokotronis (Greek: Θεόδωρος Κολοκοτρώνης; 3 April 1770 – 4 February 1843) was a Greek general and the pre-eminent leader of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire.[1][2][3]
The son of a klepht leader who fought the Ottomans during the Orlov revolt, Kolokotronis also operated as a klepht and an armatolos early in his life. While serving in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars, he became influenced by the revolutionary ideas of the era. On the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, he organized a band of Moreot klephts and captured Tripolitsa in late 1821. Kolokotronis achieved his greatest success at the 1822 Battle of Dervenakia, where he routed the Ottoman forces under the command of Mahmud Dramali Pasha.[4] From 1823 to 1825, he took part in the Greek civil wars and, following the defeat of his faction, he was briefly imprisoned in Hydra. In 1825, Kolokotronis was released and appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces in Peloponnese. He defended Greece against an Egyptian intervention.
After the war, Kolokotronis became a supporter of Ioannis Kapodistrias and a proponent of alliance with Russia. After Kapodistrias's assassination in 1831, Kolokotronis backed Prince Otto of Bavaria for the Greek throne. He later turned against Otto's regency, for which he was charged with treason and sentenced to death, but in 1835 he was pardoned. Kolokotronis died in 1843 in Athens.
- ^ Clogg 2013, p. 40 (Plate 11 Caption): "Nikitas was the nephew of another kleft, Theodoros Kolokotronis, the principal Greek commander."
- ^ Stavrianos 1963, p. 195: "Similar is the testimony of another Greek revolutionary, the colorful Theodore Kolokotronis, who, after being a klepht in the Peloponnesus, served under the British in the Ionian Islands and then played a leading role in the Greek war of independence..."
- ^ Pappas 1985, p. 4: "This angered some regimental Greeks, including Theodore Kolokotronis, later on one of the most important leaders of the Greek Revolution..."
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Keridiswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).