Pavlos Melas

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Pavlos Melas in a portrait of Georgios Iakovidis.

Pavlos Melas (Greek: Παύλος Μελάς) (March 29, 1870–October 13, 1904) was an officer of the Hellenic Army, and he was among the first who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.

He was born in Marseilles, France in a family with origin from Northern Epirus (present day Albania).

Melas, with the cooperation of Kastorian Ion Dragoumis, consul of Greece in then Ottoman occupied Monastir (now Bitola), Christos Kottas (who is considered The Father of the Macedonian revolutionaries) and Germanos Karavangelis, metropolitan bishop of Kastoria, tried to raise money for the economic support of Greek efforts in Macedonia. But after the rise of Bulgarian efforts of the VMRO, and especially after the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising, he decided to enter Macedonia in June, 1904 to assess the situation and to see if there is any possibility of establishing a military unit to fight the Bulgarians.

Statue of Melas in Thessaloniki.

In July, 1904 under the alias Captain Mikis Zezas, he reentered Macedonia with a small unit of men and fought against the Macedonians units of VMRO until October 13, 1904 when he was killed by Macedonians in the village of Statitsa. The village with coordinates 40° 42' N 021° 16' E has since been renamed Melas in his honour.

After his death, Greek efforts became more intense, resulting in the interception of Bulgarian efforts, specially in West and Central Macedonia, which were composed to Greece after the Balkan Wars.

He is considered to be a symbol of Greek Struggle for Macedonia and many of his personal belongings can be seen in the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle in Thessaloniki and Pavlos Melas Museum in Kastoria.