Daskalogiannis
| Ioannis Vlachos | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Native name | Ιωάννης Βλάχος |
| Nickname(s) |
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| Born | 1722 or 1730 Anopolis, Crete, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 17 June 1771 (age 40–49) Heraklion, Crete, Ottoman Empire |
| Allegiance |
 Greece |
Ioannis Vlachos (Greek: Ιωάννης Βλάχος), better known as Daskalogiannis (Greek: Δασκαλογιάννης; 1722/30 – June 17, 1771) was a wealthy shipbuilder and shipowner who led a Cretan revolt against Ottoman rule in the 18th century.
Ioannis Vlachos was born in Anopolis village in Sfakia, a semi-autonomous region of Crete, in 1722 or 1730. His father, who was a wealthy shipowner, sent him to be educated abroad. Due to his education, his compatriots called him "Daskalos" (teacher), hence his nickname Daskalogiannis, "John the Teacher." He is referred to as a town clerk, in 1750, and chairman of the region of Sfakia in 1765, and as the owner of four, three-mast, merchant ships that sailed between the ports of the Mediterranean. These would have sailed from Prosyalo and the gulf of Loutro.
Daskalogiannis knew Emmanouil Benakis at Mani and it is likely that Benakis introduced him to Count Orlov who Catherine the Great had sent to the Peloponnese in 1769 to instigate a revolt there. Many men from Sfakia also participated in the revolt which Orlov instigated in the Peloponnese.
In early 1770, he was contacted by Russian emissaries, who hoped to instigate a revolt amongst the Greek subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Daskalogiannis agreed to fund and organize a rebellion in Sfakia against the Turkish authorities when the Russian emissaries promised to support him. In the spring of 1770, Daskalogiannis made preparations for the revolt at Sfakia; he brought together men, rifles, and supplies and had defenses built at strategic locations. However, the Russian fleet in the Aegean, under Count Orlov, did not sail for Crete, and the Cretan revolt was left to its own devices. The uprising began on 25 March 1770, with the flag raised at the church of Agios Georgios of Anopolis, and for a short time, parts of Crete had the attributes of an independent nation, including its own coins, minted in a cave near Hora Sfakion.
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