Georgios Karaiskakis

Description

Georgios Karaiskakis (Greek: Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), born Georgios Karaiskos (Greek: Γεώργιος Καραΐσκος; 1782 – 1827), was a Greek military commander and a leader of the Greek War of Independence.

Early life
Karaiskakis was a Sarakatsani. His father was the armatolos of the Valtos district, Dimitris Iskos or Karaiskos, his mother Zoe Dimiski (from Arta, Greece, who was also the niece of a local monastery abbot) and cousin of Gogos Bakolas, captain of the armatoliki of Radovitsi.[citation needed] There is some debate regarding the birthplace of Karaiskakis. Historians have generally put it either at a monastery in Skoulikaria in Epirus or a cave near the village of Mavrommati in Thessaly. A committee set up by the Ministry of the Interior in 1927 to resolve the issue concluded that Mavrommati was his birthplace. Nevertheless, in 1997, as part of the Kapodistrias reform, it was decided to give the name “Georgios Karaiskakis” to the newly established municipality of which Skoulikaria belongs to. In 2005, by presidential decree, a public holiday of local importance was officially established in Skoulikaria in honor of Karaiskakis, further intensifying the controversy regarding his birthplace.[citation needed]

At a very early age he became a klepht in the service of Katsantonis, a famous local Agrafiote brigand captain. He rose quickly through the ranks, eventually becoming a protopalikaro, or lieutenant.

At the age of fifteen he was captured by the troops of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha and imprisoned at Ioannina, where he learned Albanian. Ali Pasha, impressed by Karaiskakis’ courage and intelligence, released him from prison and had him serve as a member of his personal bodyguards.

During his service under Ali Pasha, he fought against another Ottoman warlord, Osman Pazvantoğlu, in 1798.