Alexandros Kontoulis

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Alexandros Kontoulis
Army of Epirus
Commands heldI Army Corps
Battles/wars
Awards

Alexandros Kontoulis (

Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, he commanded the I Army Corps on the southern sector of the Greek front from February 1921 to June 1922. After his retirement, he served as ambassador to Albania
.

Early life and career

Alexandros Kontoulis was born in

Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Kontoulis distinguished himself at the Battle of Velestino, where his commanding officer, Colonel Konstantinos Smolenskis, requested his promotion and the award of the Order of the Redeemer for exceptional bravery.[2]

Macedonian Struggle and Albania

Kontoulis was promoted to Captain on 24 March 1899.[3] At the same time, along with Pavlos Melas, he became a leading member in the secret nationalistic society, the Ethniki Etaireia, and after the society's dissolution in 1900, in the aftermath of the defeat of the 1897 war, he served for ten years as the chairman of the Panhellenic Shooting Society, which largely succeeded the former in its activities.[2][3] Due to his own Arvanite origin and association with the Greek nationalistic circles of Athens, Kontoulis was deeply interested in the rising Albanian nationalism and quest for independence, and maintained contacts with the Albanian leader Ismail Qemali.[4]

From 1903, however, his contacts with Melas and

nom de guerre of Kapetan Skourtis) was one of the four officers sent by the Greek government in early March 1904 to reconnoitre the situation in Macedonia and lay the groundwork for the subsequent "Macedonian Struggle" by Greek armed bands against their Bulgarian rivals.[2][7]

After his return to Greece, he was promoted to Major on 15 October 1908 and Lt. Colonel on 6 July 1911.

Scodra and the Montenegrin capital Cetinje, urging the Christians of the region to defect from the Ottoman army and likewise press for concessions to the religious and national minorities from the Ottoman government. Qemali also signed to a proposal by Kontoulis and Dragoumis for an "Eastern Federation" of the nations of the Ottoman Balkans.[2][8]

Balkan Wars and Asia Minor

Kontoulis in 1915.

During the subsequent

Korytsa in Northern Epirus.[2] He was promoted to full Colonel on 21 May 1913.[3]

During

electoral victory in November 1920 against Eleftherios Venizelos
.

By that time, Greece was embroiled in the

Greek summer offensive, during the subsequent march through the salt desert around Lake Tuz towards Ankara, and in the decisive Battle of the Sakarya and the subsequent Greek retreat.[10] He was named Lt. General on 6 October 1921, and in May 1922, he was replaced as commander by Lt. General Nikolaos Trikoupis, returning to Greece, where he went into retirement on 24 April 1923.[3][10]

Retirement, Ambassador to Albania and death

Unlike many military officers, Kontoulis refused to be drawn into the political turmoil that engulfed the country following the disastrous defeat of the Hellenic Army by the forces of Kemal in August 1922. After his retirement, he was offered the position of ambassador to Albania, a position which he initially declined but eventually accepted in 1925 and held until 1926.[10] During his retirement he lived in Piraeus, he put together a considerable personal archive, and was engaged a chairman in the editorial committee that published the Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia in 1929–1930.[10]

He died on 22 August 1933.[11]

References

  1. Old Style
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sokos (1929), p. 190
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Polychronopoulou-Klada (2000), p. 17
  4. ^ Polychronopoulou-Klada (2000), pp. 29–30
  5. ^ Polychronopoulou-Klada (2000), pp. 29–31
  6. ^ Kontoulis, Alexandros (1931). Βιογραφία Καπετάν Κώττα (in Greek). Florina: Τυπογραφείον Σ. Μ. Κωνσταντινίδου.
  7. ^ Polychronopoulou-Klada (2000), pp. 31ff.
  8. ^ Polychronopoulou-Klada (2000), pp. 41–42
  9. ^ Sokos (1929), pp. 190–191
  10. ^ a b c d Sokos (1929), p. 191
  11. ^ Polychronopoulou-Klada (2000), p. 18

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexandros Kontoulis.
  • Polychronopoulou-Klada, Nika (2000). Στρατηγός Αλέξανδρος Κοντούλης (1858–1933) και το γενικό ευρετήριο του αρχείου του [General Alexandros Kontoulis (1858–1933) and the general index of his archive] (in Greek). Athens: Εταιρεία των Φίλων του Λαού.
  • Sokos, Georgios I. (1929). "Κοντούλης Ἀλέξανδρος". Μεγάλη Στρατιωτικὴ καὶ Ναυτικὴ Ἐγκυκλοπαιδεία. Tόμος Τέταρτος: Καβάδης–Μωριάς [Great Military and Naval Encyclopaedia. Volume IV: Kavadh–Morea] (in Greek). Athens: Ἔκδοσις Μεγάλης Στρατιωτικῆς καὶ Ναυτικῆς Ἐγκυκλοπαιδείας. pp. 190–191.
    OCLC 31255024
    .
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