Nikitaras the”Turk-Eater”

Description

Nikitaras (Greek: Νικηταράς) was the nom de guerre of Nikitas Stamatelopoulos (Greek: Νικήτας Σταματελόπουλος) (c. 1784 – 1849), a Greek revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence. Due to his fighting prowess, he was known as Tourkofagos (Greek: Τουρκοφάγος), literally means the “Turk-Eater”.
The date and place of Nikitaras’ birth are disputed, but he is thought to have been born either in the village of Nedoussa (Νέδουσα) in the Peloponnesian province of Messenia or in Leontari in Arcadia circa 1784. He was a nephew of Theodoros Kolokotronis, the most important Greek military leader of the Revolution. Turkish authorities tried to capture him, as well as Kolokotronis, but he escaped and joined his uncle in the British-held Ionian Islands.
When the Greek war of Independence began, both returned to the mainland. He was with Kolokotronis, who commanded the Greek army at the Siege of Tripoli early in the war. When the commander and his men tried to escape the city, Nikitaras and his troops cut off the escape of the Turkish commander and his troops and slaughtered them. Nikitas achieved fame and his sobriquet “Turk-Eater” in the Battle of Dervenakia, where he is said to have used five swords: four broke from excessive use. During the civil war within the Revolution, he sided with his uncle against the faction around Alexander Mavrokordatos.