Kitsos (Kyriakos) Tzavellas KITSOS
TZAVELAS
Born in Souli, 1801 Died in Athens, 1855
Section 2, Number 30
Kitsos Tzavellas in full regalia
The trajectory of the career of
Kitsos (Kyriakos) Tzavellas as a freedom fighter, aid de camp to King
Othon, Major General in the Greek army,
and then politician is similar to that of many other heroes of the Greek
revolution. But what sets him apart, aside from his participation in so many of
the major battles during that long struggle, is his role as leader of one of
the most important Souliot clans. Every school child in Greece knows the story
of Souli: the last stand at Kougki and
the sacrifice of the Souliot women who, with babes in arms, danced their way to
the edge of a cliff and plunged to their death rather than surrender to the
Turks. Their defiance and courage is one of the great stories of the War of
Independence.
Even the bare outline of the Souliot story
is epic. But, as it was reconstructed again and again by historians, poets and
painters, the story took on the trappings of Myth. This was due in no small
part to the Romantic Movement so prevalent in the 19th century. It
helped that this movement was represented on the ground by none other than the ne plus ultra of the romantic figures, Lord
Byron himself. Perceived through this particular lens, the
Souliot lifestyle and struggle assumed legendary proportions and became an integral
part of the Greek national psyche.
The presence of Kitsos Tzavellas in
the First Cemetery is a great opportunity to take a closer look at the Souliots
and their influence on modern Greece.
Who Were The Souliots?
The Souliots
were a group of clans who, sometime in the late 1600s or early 1700s, either went or were driven into the rugged
mountain area of Thesprotia south of the
town of Paramythia and east of Parga.
Souliot territory
There was an
Albanian ethnic component to these clansmen, hardly surprising given their
geographical location, but just how much is still debated. Such distinctions did
not interest the Turks because they categorized all subject people by religion
and so the Souliots were listed as Orthodox Christians. (1)
Over time, these independent family based clans
coalesced into a loose federation that at its height numbered around 12,000 souls
and comprised 60 small settlements. As with other mountain clans in the
Peloponnese and elsewhere, their raison d’etre
and life style was a result of their refusal to knuckle down under Ottoman rule.
What set them apart is that they had managed to federate.
It was a
tough life with limited resources. They were ever a pugnacious lot and tough as
nails. All lived a hand to mouth existence and of necessity had to emerge from their
mountain fastness to prey on the Ottoman towns as well as the settled Greek
farmers living in the lowlands.
Not quite the territory
for a market garden. Water was always an issue.
They were
not always welcome visitors as you can imagine. Sometimes individual Souliots
or groups of Souliots became klefts,
a nice term for raiders and marauders, and sometimes they became armatoli – hiring themselves out to
various Ottoman leaders with the promise of maintaining order in their
territories.
The entire region
of Epirus surrounding Souli was never well and truly under Ottoman
control and, even when it was, local Beys or Pashas were fighting among
themselves for more local territory and power. These constantly shifting rivalries
offered opportunities for the Souliots to form temporary alliances with various
Ottoman leaders. Sometimes these agreements worked well; more often they
resulted in a betrayal on the part of one side or the other. A good Souliot leader
had to become adept at knowing which way the wind was blowing at any given time
and be prepared to take advantage and change sides if he could. It was a
chaotic situation. From the perspective
of the Sultan in Constantinople, Epirus really was the wild west.
By the early
1800s, when revolution was in the air, the Souliot clans had become as
colourful as they were ungovernable and as
canny as centuries of Turkish oppression could make them. By 1800 the
federation had already managed to repulse six Ottoman attempts to wipe out
their villages.
A Souliot ‘at home’
This
situation might have continued longer had not wily and ambitious Ali Pasha
become the ruler of Ioannina.
Ali Pasha and the
Europeans Enter the Picture
Ali began his
own relentless pursuit of territory. Part of his plan for an independent state
was to welcome European consuls to come and reside in Ioannina. His tenure in
power coincided with the Napoleonic Wars and he was intent on taking full
advantage of any opportunities that came his way. Ioannina became a diplomatic
hotspot and for a time an integral part of the ‘grand tour’ that many Europeans
were making during that era. Lord Byron visited
in September of 1809 and was
impressed as were most visitors who enjoyed his hospitality, if not his
practices. All were intrigued by his wily
personality and the exotic aspect of his court.(2)
Ali at ease at the
height of his power
When Ali learned
that the Souliots were obtaining arms from the French in the Ioanian Islands, he
determined to cut off their supply line to Parga and lay siege to Souli
territory. He built an impressive fort at Kiafas and waited...
By 1803, hunger and lack of supplies
caused the Souliots to capitulate and abandon their mountain homes under Ali’s
guarantee of safe passage. (3)
Most would head for exile in the Ionian
Islands which were not under Ottoman control.
The ruins of this fort at
Kiafas are still there
Kougki
When the
Souliots abandoned their villages, a monk named Father Samuel remained with
five fellow compatriots in his small monastery on the brow of a hill at Kougki
to guard the ammunition that the Souliots had been forced to leave behind. To
prevent it falling into Ali’s hands, they blew up both the arsenal and
themselves. This event is still commemorated
yearly at Kougki and, to this day, to ‘do
a Kougki’ means to be prepared to destroy everything for a cause.
Kougki today.
Zalongo
One small band
of Souliots, mostly women and children, chose to head south to relatives in Arta.
In spite of the promise of safe passage, the group were trapped by Ottoman
forces on the heights of Zalongo just north of Previsa. Rather than be captured,
they threw themselves off a steep cliff to their deaths. The story goes that they danced and sang as
they marched off the edge of the cliff, a detail which seems incredible but has
become part of the legend.
This huge stone sculpture created in
1961 on the site is better when seen at a distance:
Kitsos after 1803
Because of
the capitulation to Ali Pasha, Kitsos was raised and educated on Corfu. After
his father was assassinated there in 1809 by agents of Ali Pasha, Kitsos became
clan leader – with the object of returning to Souli and fighting for freedom.
He fought in the First Siege of Messolonghi, the Battle of Kefalovrisi near
Karpenisi where fellow clan leader Markos Botsaris was killed, at Aitoliko
(1823) near Messolonghi, at Eghio in Achaia
(1824), at Pylos (1825), and
during the famous Exodus from Messolonghi on April 10 which left 1200
freedom fighters dead. He was also among the fighters in Athens along with Georgios Karaiskakis for the ill-fated attack on the Ottoman
garrison on the acropolis. Under Capodistria he was put in charge of the fight
for mainland Greece.
The struggle
to create a unified Greek state was never neat. Kitsos was thrown into jail by
the regency, was let out because of his popularity, and became King Othon’s aid-de-camp.
The move to politics for Tsavellas was a natural one. In fact it would have
been tough to get elected in Greece without that credential. He became a
minister in the government of Ioannis Kolettis and, upon his death, took over
as Prime Minister between October 1847 and March 1848, and then served briefly
in the government of Constantinos
Kanaris.
During the
Crimean War in 1844 he took part in a failed attempt to wrest his beloved
northern Greece from the Ottomans.
When he died in Athens on March 9,
1855, he was a mere 55 years old and already a legend.
The Souliots, Byron,
and the Souliot Legend
The growth
of the Souliot legend can be attributed directly to Lord Byron. A rebel and an exotic
himself, Byron felt a natural affinity for the flamboyance, independence, and nerve
of these colourful tribesmen. When he arrived in Cephalonia in 1823 he
immediately hired a group of them as his personal bodyguard.
Byron was no stranger
to sartorial splendour. Apparently he brought no fewer than five military
uniforms with him to Messolonghi . The one he apparently chose to wear first
was scarlet.
When he did
arrive in Messolonghi on November of 1823, it was just 3 months after the death
of Tzavellas’ fellow Souliot leader, Markos Botsaris. Byron took over as leader
of the Souliot troops and of the other freedom fighters amassing there for a proposed
attack on Lepanto (today’s Navpactos on the Gulf of Corinth). Byron often drilled the ‘Byron Brigade’ on the
plains outside of the city.
From William St Clair’s
book: That Greece Might Still be Free
Dealing with
the Souliots was not plain sailing even for Byron. They were more loyal to clan
leaders than anyone else in charge, their particular brand of guerrilla warfare
did not meld well with the tactics of a regular army that Byron and other Greek
leaders based in the Peloponnese were attempting to form, and they tended to
want to keep for themselves whatever spoils they managed to achieve in battle.
They also wanted money which Byron finally paid out of his own pocket (4).
Byron had a
pragmatic side that belies his image. He was an extremely complex man. He did
know and often complained about the behaviour of the Souliot fighters and often
came into conflict with Kitsos Tzavellas who was the most important clan leader
after the death of Markos Botsaris. How this would have played out, we will
never know. A few short months later Byron died of a fever, left his heart in
Messolonghi, and became a part of the growing legend himself.
The Aftermath
Byron’s influence
on the Greek revolution was tremendous. The Souliot story, now entwined with the Byron story, gained international
fame through the many works of historians, poets, and painters.
The Dance of Zolongo by
Claude Pinet (circa 1820)
Greece on the Ruins of Messolonghi,
Eugene Delacroix, 1827
Lord Byron at the Tomb
of Markos Botsaris
By Ludovico Lipparini
1850
The Death Of Lambros Tzavellas 1855, by Donato Francesco de Vivo.
Was the
picture entirely accurate? Of course not. But similar works were produced all
during the 19th century and kept the heroic aspect of the Souliots,
now emblematic of the Greek struggle, at the forefront of people’s minds both at
home and in Europe. Together, they helped create the empathy so necessary for
the economic aid that the new state constantly needed and served to encourage
the Greek people in their struggle for a larger homeland all through the 19th
and early 20th century.
The Grave
The grave stele is in the fully
developed romantic style so popular at the time.
The Map
Footnotes
(1)The ethnicity of the Souliot clans became more important as their legend grew. They became more
ethnically Greek as time passed.
(2)This grand tour would inspire much of Byron’s subsequent poetry. It would be wonderful to dwell on the fascinating story of Lord Byron but it is beyond the scope of our blog. If only his bones had been taken to Athens! There is a wonderful book, available on line about his life: Byron's War: Romantic Rebellion, Greek Revolution by Roderick Beaton. I love his epitaph in Messolonghi. It is in his own words: If I am a poet, the air of Greece has made me one. Now that is romantic, and generous too.
(3)These capitulations were very common during the struggles under the Ottomans.
They were agreements of defeat in return for various concessions such as free
passage, being left in peace, or even accepting Ottoman rule and certain taxes.
(4)Byron was incredibly generous with his own money for the Greek cause. Nor
was the Souliot demand for pay merely selfish. They were making real sacrifices
to become part of the regular army.
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