Tellos Agras
Tellos Agras | |
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Tellos Agras in uniform | |
Birth name | Sarantis-Tellos Agapinos Σαράντης-Τέλλος Αγαπηνός |
Nickname(s) | Tellos Agras Τέλλος Άγρας Kapetan Agras Καπετάν Άγρας |
Born | 17 February 1880 Gargalianoi, Kingdom of Greece |
Died | 7 June 1907 Tekhovo, Salonika Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Karydia, Greece) |
Allegiance | Kingdom of Greece |
Service/ | Hellenic Army |
Years of service | 1901-1907 |
Rank | First Lieutenant |
Battles/wars | Macedonian Struggle |
Alma mater | Hellenic Army Academy |
Sarantis-Tellos Agapinos (Greek: Σαράντης-Τέλλος Αγαπηνός, c. 1880 – 7 June 1907) known by the nom de guerre Tellos Agras (Greek: Τέλλος Άγρας), was a Greek officer of the Hellenic Army who played a prominent role during the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.
Early life
Agras was born in Gargalianoi, Messenia in about 1880, from an important family of that region, members of which had participated in the Greek War of Independence. He entered the Hellenic Military Academy, from where he graduated as lieutenant of the Hellenic Army in 1901.
The increasing presence of Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization guerrilla troops in Ottoman-held Macedonia and their actions against the followers of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and generally against the Macedonian Greek population concerned Greek public opinion in Athens, which led to the creation of some underground organizations financed by wealthy Greeks, initially without official support, with the intention of establishing Greek military bands in Macedonia to confront the threat. Agras entered one of these organizations, the Macedonian Committee in 1904, after the death of Pavlos Melas.
The Bulgarian troops were often allied with Aromanian armatole soldiers.[1]
Tellos Agras was Agapinos' pseudonym. Tellos meant "perfect" and "complete" but also "the one from afar", "the one who is not among us". On the other hand, Agras meant "fierce", "untamed", "wild".[1]
Involvement in the Macedonian Struggle
In September 1906, he entered Macedonia leading a 14 men band with the mission to protect Greek villages in Giannitsa Lake (called O Valtos, i.e., "the Swamp" by locals) from the attacks of VMRO members that controlled the northern part of the lake. With the help of local Macedonian Greeks such as the wealthy tradesman Zafeiris Loggos and Antonis Mingas [bg; el] (actually an ethnic Bulgarian[1]) from Naoussa, in only three months he managed to limit Bulgarian presence in the Swamp. But on November 14, 1906 Agras was seriously injured after an unsuccessful attack against the leader of the Bulgarian guerrilla troops, Apostol Petkov, near the village of Zervochori and was recalled to Thessaloniki to be healed. He continued his activity in the area for some months but his health deteriorated by his continuous presence and fights in the lake, resulting in his infection by malaria. The coordinator of the Greek forces, Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian, concerned for his life, ordered Agras to withdraw to Naoussa in April 1907, where he started recruiting locals to man the band of his substitute Captain Amyntas, alias Lieutenant Doumpiotis.
Death
The Ottoman forces, although initially passive and not intervening in Greek-Bulgarian fights, began attacking both, worried by the presence of so many armed bands in the area. That led Agras to seek cooperation with the leaders of the Bulgarian forces of the area against the Turks and a meeting was arranged on June 3, 1907 between Agras and his opponent, Ivan Zlatanov (Zlatan), near the town of Aghia Foteini, 10km north of Naoussa. According to their agreement each group would be unarmed.
However, Agras and his companions were intercepted in their way by a group of Aromanian fighters led by Mihail Handuri. They were brought to Zlatan and to Aromanian band leader Ioryi Mucitano. Despite Zlatan's opposition, Mucitano captured Agras and his ally Mingas and they were hanged on 7 June 1907 in an area between the villages of Techovo and Vladovon [el].[2]
The news of his death shocked the local Greek population and his fellow fighters who continued his work and eventually managed to predominate in the area of Giannitsa Lake, after the decisive victory of Captain Amyntas against Zlatan on June 30 in Xeroleivado.
Legacy
Tellos Agras is considered to be a martyr of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia and one of its most important and effective band leaders.
He and his exploits are better known through the pages of the novel Ta Mystika tou Valtou ("The Secrets of the Marsh"), written by Penelope Delta.
A village in Pella close to the site of his death was named Agras in his honour.
There is a memorial at the location of his hanging between Karydia and Agras.
There is a bust of him in Thessaloniki.
In September 2022, the memorial busts of Agras and of other figures in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia in Edessa were decapitated and vandalized.[citation needed]
Other Images
- Tellos Agras (middle), with fellow chieftains, Ioannis Demestichas (left) and Konstantinos Sorros (right) at the Giannitsa Lake.
- "Kapetan Agras with his band" (standing middle).
- Tellos Agras (seated middle) with his band.
References
- ^ a b c Nicea, Cola (2001). "Memorii" (PDF). Scara – revistă de oceanografie ortodoxă (in Romanian) (7): 1–32.
- ^ Minov, Nikola (2018). ""Романските" чети на Македонската револуционерна организација 1906-1908" (PDF). Istorija / Journal of history (in Macedonian). 53 (2): 48.
- Dakin Douglas. The Greek Struggle in Macedonia 1897-1913. Thessaloniki, 1966, ISBN 978-960-7387-00-4.
- Vakalopoulos, Apostolos. History of the Greek Nation 1204-1985.
- Archives of the Macedonian Struggle of Penelope Delta, Thessaloniki, 1959.
- Mazarakis-Ainian, Konstantinos. The Macedonian Struggle.
External links
- Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, Thessaloniki
- v
- t
- e
(with nom de guerre)
- Theodoros Adam
- Sarantis-Tellos Agapinos (Agras)
- Michail Anagnostakos (Matapas)
- Charalambos Boufidis (Fourtounas)
- Theodoros Boulasikis
- Ioannis Boubaras
- Antigonos Choleris
- Petros Christou
- Konstantinos Christou (Kottas)
- Nikolaos Dailakis
- Panagiotis Danglis (Parmenion)
- Stergios Daoutis (Perifanos)
- Nikolaos Davelis
- Ioannis Demertzis
- Ioannis Demestichas (Nikiforos)
- Christos Dogiamas (Itsos)
- Dimitrios Dogiamas (Bikas)
- Lazos Dogiamas (Barovitsalis)
- Konstantinos Dogras
- Georgios Doitsinis
- Nikolaos Doumpiotis (Amyntas)
- Periklis Drakos
- Ioannis Evaggelopoulos
- Doukas Gaitatzis (Zervas)
- Konstantinos Garefis
- Dimitrios Golnas
- Nikolaos Gousios
- Stergios Goutas
- Pavlos Gyparis
- Petros Hatzitasis
- Simos Ioannidis (Armenskiotis)
- Georgios Kakoulidis (Dragas)
- Nikostratos Kalomenopoulos (Nidas)
- Pantelis Kandilas
- Efthymios Kaoudis (Old Kaoudis)
- Filippos Kapetanopoulos
- Georgios Karaiskakis
- Ioannis Karavitis
- Georgios Katechakis (Rouvas)
- Dimitrios Kechagias (Dalipis)
- Nikolaos Kollias
- Georgios Kondylis
- Alexandros Kontoulis (Skourtis)
- Stavros Kotsopoulos (Banitsiotis)
- Evangelos Koukoudeas
- Theodoros Koukoulakis
- Georgios Koutles
- Pavlos Kyrou
- Dimitrios Lalas
- Georgios Lepidatos (Arkoudas)
- Traianos Liantzakis (Traikos)
- Nikolaos Manos
- Konstantinos Manos (Michailidis)
- Petros Manos (Vergos)
- Ioannis Martzios
- Apostolis Matopoulos
- Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian (Akritas)
- Pavlos Melas (Mikis Zezas)
- Alexandros Merentitis (Doukas)
- Georgios Modis
- Evangelos Natsis (Srebreniotis)
- Pavlos Nikolaidis (Rakovitis)
- Alexandros Othonaios (Palamidis)
- Markos Palamidis
- Pantelis Papaioannou (Nikotsaras)
- Konstantinos Papastavrou (Mavromatis)
- Iraklis Patikas
- Filolaos Pichion (Filotas)
- Nikolaos Pyrzas (Lakis)
- Stavros Rigas (Kavodoros)
- Nikolaos Rokas (Kolios)
- Michail Sapkas
- Dimitrios Sarros
- Georgios Savvas
- Georgios Seridis (Spanos)
- Ioannis Simanikas
- Michael Sionidis
- Konstantinos Sorros (Kallas)
- Georgios Soulios
- Spyros Spyromilios (Bouas)
- Dimitrios Stagas (Mizas)
- Athanasios Stavroudis
- Christos Stogiannidis (Lilis or Iason)
- Markos Theodoridis
- Georgios Thomopoulos (Gogos)
- Georgios Tombras (Roupakias)
- Ioannis Tsangaridis
- Lazaros Tsamis
- Dimitrios Tsapanos
- Nikolaos Tsipouras
- Dimitrios Tsitsimis
- Christos Tsolakopoulos (Rembelos)
- Georgios Tsontos (Vardas)
- Lazaros Varzis (Zarkadas)
- Zisis Verros
- Ioannis Villioglou (Ramnalis)
- Stergios Vlachveis
- Argyrios Vouzas
- Zisis Vrakas
- Georgios Yiotas (Gonos)
- Antonios Zois
undercover agents
- Ion Dragoumis
- Athanasios Exadaktylos (Antoniou)
- Lambros Koromilas
- Spyridon Levidis
- Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian (Ioannidis)
- Anastasios Pichion
- Ptolemaios Sarigiannis (Kalamidis)
- Museum for the Macedonian Struggle (Thessaloniki)
- Museum of the Macedonian Struggle (Kastoria)
- Museum of the Macedonian Struggle (Chromio)
- Folklore Museum of Giannitsa
- Pavlos Melas Museum
- Captain Kottas Museum