Nikitas Stamatelopoulos

Military Person

1784 – 1849

67

Who was Nikitas Stamatelopoulos?

Nikitaras was the nom de guerre of Nikitas Stamatelopoulos, a Greek revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence. Due to his fighting prowess, he was known as Tourkofagos, literally means "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 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 troups 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.

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Born
1784
Messenia
Lived in
  • Peloponnese
Died
1849
Piraeus

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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