Kitsos Tzavelas

Description

Kitsos Tzavelas (Greek: Κίτσος Τζαβέλας, 1800–1855) was a Souliot fighter and general of the Greek rebels in the Greek War of Independence. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece he entered Greek politics and served as Minister of Military Affairs (1847-1848) and as Prime Minister (1847).

Early years and Greek War of Independence
Tzavelas was born in Souli, Epirus in 1800, to the Souliot Tzavelas clan (Greek: Τζαβελαίοι Tzavelaioi,[1] Albanian: Xhavella). He was the son of Fotos Tzavelas and grandson of Lambros Tzavelas, both famous for their roles in the Souliot struggles against Ali Pasha, the Pasha of Yanina. Tzavelas grew up in exile in Corfu, the likely location of where he learned Greek, his mother tongue being the Souliotic dialect of Albanian. As such, he was known by his Albanian name, Kiço Xhavella .

Upon his return to mainland Greece in 1822, he became the head of his family and fara (minor Albanian clan). He settled his clan in Missolonghi. He was initially under the patronage of Georgios Karaiskakis at the beginning of the Greek War of Independence, but would switch to the faction of Alexandros Mavrokordatos when Karaiskakis was implicated in secret negotiations with the Ottomans. However, this did not aid them in their rivalry with the fellow Souliot Botsaris clan, as the latter were favoured due to having prior membership in the faction.[5] After plundering Agrafa (which was held by Karaiskakis’ revolutionary faction) on the orders of Mavrokordatos, the Tzavelas clan rejoined Karaiskakis and abandoned Mavrokordatos due to him designating Markos Botsaris “General of Western Greece”. The two clans had a very deep hostility to each other that, throughout the war, they supported opposing factions and refused to fight under the same command.

A painting of Kitsos Tzavelas by Themistoklis Drakos, National Historical Museum, Athens
When Ibrahim Pasha invaded the Peloponnese in 1825, Tzavellas, together with Kitsos Botsaris and Georgios Karaiskakis were among the Greek leaders to advance in Messenia and succeeded to relieve the siege of Navarino.

In his speech to the Third National Council of the provisional Greek government in 1826, Tzavelas stressed the sacrifice of the Souliotes for a common fatherland. In 1827, Tzavelas had campaigned successfully in central Rumeli, and would eventually recapture Karpenisi on December 15.

The fact that Tzavelas and the other Souliot leaders gradually integrated in the Greek national cause was noticed by, and perhaps amused, their contemporaries such as the embittered Ahmet Nepravistha, the dervenaga of Kravara, who in a letter of September 1828 replying to Tzavellas’s request to surrender, took note of their mutation, and pointing out their shared Albanian origin sarcastically called into question Tzavellas’ Greekness.After defeating him next month, in October 1828, Tzavellas had Ahmet’s and his men’s foreheads stigmatized with the Phoenix; the emblem of the First Hellenic Republic.

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