Georgios Hatzianestis

Georgios Hatzianestis
Georgios Hatzianestis
Born	3 December 1863 Athens
Died	15 November 1922 (aged 58–59) Goudi, Athens
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1884–1922
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	5th Infantry Division, Army of Thrace, Army of Asia Minor
Battles/wars	Greco-Turkish War (1919–22): Battle of Sakarya

Georgios Hatzianestis (Greek: Γεώργιος Χατζηανέστης, 3 December 1863 – 28 November 1922) was a Greek artillery and general staff officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He is best known as the commander-in-chief of the Army of Asia Minor at the time of the Turkish August 1922 offensive, which he failed to stop. Relieved, he was later tried and condemned in the Trial of the Six as one of the main culprits of the Greek defeat in the Asia Minor Campaign, and executed.

Hatzianestis was born in Athens on 3 December 1863. His father was Nikolaos Hatzianestis, the Prefect of Attica and Boeotia, and his mother was Maria Pitsipios, daughter of the scholar Iakovos Pitsipios.

He graduated from the Hellenic Military Academy as a second lieutenant in the Artillery on 25 July 1884 and continued his military studies in Imperial Germany. After a period of service in the newly founded Hellenic Military Geographical Service, he served in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 as a staff officer of the 3rd Brigade under Col. Konstantinos Smolenskis, before assuming command of the 2nd Mountain Artillery Battery on 27 April 1897. In 1904, he was one of the first officers appointed to the Staff Officers Corps, but resigned following the Goudi coup in 1909. In 1912 he returned to service as a Major of the Reserves and participated in the First Balkan War (1912–13) against the Ottoman Empire as chief of staff of the 6th Infantry Division and the 5th Infantry Division, returning to the 6th Division as chief of staff in the Second Balkan War against Bulgaria.