Nikolaos Petimezas

Lieutenant General

Nikolaos Petmezas
A portrait of Nikolaos Petmezas
Native name
Νικόλαος Πετ[ι]μεζάς
BornSoudena, Morea Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (now Greece)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Greece First Hellenic Republic
Greece Kingdom of Greece
Service / branch British Army
 Hellenic Army
RankLieutenant General
Unit1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry
Battles / wars
Awards Commander of the Order of the Redeemer
RelationsAthanasios Petimezas (father)
Vasileios Petimezas (brother)

Nikolaos Petimezas or Petmezas (Greek: Νικόλαος Πετ[ι]μεζάς, 1790–1865) was a Greek revolutionary leader during the Greek War of Independence, politician and officer of the Hellenic Gendarmerie.

Life

[edit]

Nikolaos Petimezas hailed from the important armatolos clan of the Petimezas or Petmezas from the village of Soudena, near Kalavryta.[1] He was born in 1790 as the son of Athanasios Petimezas.[2]

After his father was murdered in 1804 he fled to British-held Zakynthos, and enrolled in the British-sponsored Greek light infantry units there, along with his brother Vasileios.[2]

He returned to the Peloponnese at the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, and fought in several battles at Kalavryta, Levidi, Corinth, Argos, and Akrata.[2] In 1826, with 600 men, he and his brother occupied Mega Spilaio and drove back the attacks of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt.[2] He then fought in Attica under Georgios Karaiskakis against Reşid Mehmed Pasha.[2] He reached the rank of lieutenant general.[2]

He died in Kalavryta in 1865.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Doganis 1930, pp. 314–315.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Doganis 1930, p. 315.

Sources

[edit]
  • Doganis, Th. (1930). Μεγάλη Στρατιωτικὴ καὶ Ναυτικὴ Ἐγκυκλοπαιδεία. Tόμος Πέμπτος: Νάβα–Σαρακηνοί [Great Military and Naval Encyclopaedia. Volume V: Nave–Saracens] (in Greek). Athens: Ἔκδοσις Μεγάλης Στρατιωτικῆς καὶ Ναυτικῆς Ἐγκυκλοπαιδείας. pp. 314–315. OCLC 31255024.