Petros Mavromichalis

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Petros Mavromichalis bigraphy, stories - Ministers

Petros Mavromichalis : biography

August 6, 1765 – January 17, 1848

Petros Mavromichalis () (1765 – 1848), also known as Petrobey (), was the leader of the Maniot people during the first half of the 19th century. His family had a long history of revolts against the Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of what is now Greece. His grandfather Georgos and his father Pierros were among the leaders of the Orlov Revolt.

Life

Petros was born on 6 August 1765, the son of leader Pierros "Mavromichalis" Pierrakos and Katerina Koutsogrigorakos, a doctor’s daughter.

Mavromichalis’ family had a long history of revolts against the Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of what is now Greece. His grandfather Georgakis Mavromichalis and his father Pierros "Mavromichalis" Pierrakos were among the leaders of the Orlov Revolt. The revolt was followed by a period of infighting between the leaders of Mani; soon, young Petros gained a strong reputation for mediating the disputes and reuniting the warring families. Due to the failure of several uprisings against the Turks, he was successful in helping many klephts and other rebels to escape to the French-controlled Heptanese, which gave him a useful contact with a potential ally. During that period he possibly made an alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte, who was fighting in Egypt; Napoleon was to strike the Ottoman Empire in coordination with a Greek revolt. Napoleon’s failure in Egypt doomed that plan.

By 1814, the reorganized Maniots again became a threat to the Ottomans, and the Sultan offered a number of concessions to Pierrakos, including his being named Bey, or Chieftain, of Mani – in effect formalizing the de facto status of autonomy the region had maintained for years. Under the leadership of Petrobey, as he was now called, the Maniot state and the Pierrakos family in particular were powerful enough to control the areas of the southern Peloponnese against Albanian raiders on behalf of the Sultan. Still, Petrobey was an active participant int the various designs of the Moreot kapetanaioi (καπεταναῖοι "captains, commanders of warbands") for an uprising. In 1818, he became a member of the Filiki Eteria, and in 1819 he brokered a formal pact among the major kapetanaioi families. On March 17, 1821, Petrobey raised his war flag in Areopolis, effectively signaling the start of the Greek War of Independence. His troops marched into Kalamata, and took the city on March 23.

After the summer of 1822, Petrobey retired from battle, leaving the leadership of his troops to his sons (two of whom were killed fighting). He continued to act as a mediator whenever disputes arose among the kapetanaioi, and acted as the leader of the Messenian Senate, a council of prominent revolutionary leaders. He also tried to seek support from the West by sending a number of letters to leaders and philhellenes in Europe and the United States.

kapetanaioi

Sources

  • Κ. Ζησίου, Οι Μαυρομιχάλαι. Συλλογή των περί αυτών γραφέντων, (K. Zisiou, The Mavromichalai. Collection of their own scripts, Athens,1903)
  • Ανάργυρου Κουτσιλιέρη, Ιστορία της Μάνης, (Anargiros Koutsilieris, History of Mani, Athens, 1996)
  • Αγαπητός Σ. Αγαπητός (1877). Οι Ένδοξοι Έλληνες του 1821, ή Οι Πρωταγωνισταί της Ελλάδος σελ. 40-47. Τυπογραφείον Α. Σ. Αγαπητού, Εν Πάτραις -ανακτήθηκε 13 Αυγούστου 2009-. (Agapitos S. Agapitos, The 1821 Glorious Greeks, The Protagonists of Greece, pg 40-47. A.S. Agapitou Press, Patras -1877 – reimpression 8.13.2009)

Category:1765 births Category:1848 deaths Category:19th-century Greek people Category:Greek politicians Category:Greek revolutionaries Petros Category:People of the Greek War of Independence Category:Prime Ministers of Greece Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Redeemer Category:Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament