Yannis Makriyannis

Yannis Makriyannis
Nickname(s)	Makriyannis
Born	1797 Avoriti, Phocis, Ottoman Empire
Died	1864 Athens, Greece
Allegiance	Greece
Years of service	1821–1864
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Greek War of Independence
Other work	Commerce, Politics

Yannis Makriyannis (Greek: Γιάννης or Ιωάννης Μακρυγιάννης, Giánnēs or Iōánnīs Makrygiánnīs; 1797–1864), born Ioannis Triantaphyllos (Ιωάννης Τριαντάφυλλος, Iōánnēs Triantáfyllos), was a Greek merchant, military officer, politician and author, best known today for his Memoirs. Starting from humble origins, he joined the Greek struggle for independence, achieving the rank of general and leading his men to notable victories. Following Greek independence, he had a tumultuous public career, playing a prominent part in the granting of the first Constitution of the Kingdom of Greece and later being sentenced to death and pardoned.

Despite his important contributions to the political life of the early Greek state, general Makriyannis is mostly remembered for his Memoirs. Aside from being a source of historical and cultural information about the period, this work has also been called a "monument of Modern Greek literature", as it is written in pure Demotic Greek. Indeed, its literary quality led Nobel laureate Giorgos Seferis to call Makriyannis one of the greatest masters of Modern Greek prose.

Yannis Makriyannis was born to a poor family in the village of Avoriti, in the vicinity of Doris. "Makriyannis" was a nickname he acquired because of his height. His father, Dimitris Triantaphyllou, was killed in a clash with the forces of Ali Pasha. His family was forced to flee to Levadeia, where Makriyannis spent his childhood up to 1811. At age seven, he was given as a foster son to a wealthy man from Levadeia, but the menial labour and beatings he endured were, in his own words, "his death". Thus, in 1811 he left for Arta to stay with an acquaintance who maintained close relations with Ali Pasha. There, still a teenager, he was involved in trade and, according to his memoirs, became a wealthy man. His property amounted to 40,000 piastres. According to Sphyroeras, he probably joined the Filiki Etaireia, a secret anti-Ottoman society, in 1820. In March 1821 he left for Patras, in the Peloponnese, supposedly on business. His actual assignment, however, was to inform local members of the Filiki Etaireia of the state of affairs in his native Roumeli. Having met with Odysseas Androutsos, he returned to Arta two days before the revolution broke out in Patras and was promptly arrested by the Ottoman authorities and placed under arrest in the local fortress. He was held captive for 90 days but managed to escape and, in August 1821, first took up arms against the Ottomans under chieftain Gogos Bakolas.

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