| Markos Botsaris Μάρκος Μπότσαρης |
|
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1788 Souli (Epirus), Ottoman Empire |
| Died | August 21, 1823 Kefalovryso near Karpenisi |
| Buried at | Missolonghi |
| Allegiance | France (1807-1814) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1814-1815) Revolutionary Greece (1821-1823) |
| Years of service | 1807-1823 |
| Rank | General of the Greek Army |
| Battles/wars | Greek War of Independence: First Siege of Missolonghi Battle of Peta Battle of Karpenisi |
Markos Botsaris (Greek: Μάρκος Μπότσαρης, c. 1788 – 21 August 1823) was a Souliote captain[1] and a hero of the War of Greek Independence. Markos Botsaris is among the most revered national heroes in Greece.
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Botsaris was born into one of the leading clans of the Souliotes, in Epirus.[2] He was the second son of captain Kitsos Botsaris, who was murdered in Arta in 1809 under the orders of Ali Pasha. The Botsaris clan came from the village of Dragani (today Ambelia), near Paramythia.
In 1803, after the capture of Souli by Ali Pasha, Botsaris and the remnants of the Souliotes crossed over to the Ionian Islands, where he served in the Albanian regiment of the French army for 11 years and became one the regiment's officers.[3]
In 1814, he joined the Greek patriotic society known as the Filiki Eteria. In 1820, with other Souliots, he came back to Epirus and fought against Ali Pasha in the Ottoman army at the Siege of Ioannina, but soon the Souliotes changed side and fought the Ottoman army with the troops of Ali Pasha, in exchange of their former region, the Souli.
In 1821, Botsaris made common cause with the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire. He and other Souliot captains, including Kitsos Tzavelas, Notis Botsaris, Lampros Veikos, and Giotis Danglis only enlisted fellow Souliot kin in to their bands.[1] At the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, he distinguished himself by his courage, tenacity and skill as a partisan leader in the fighting in western Greece, and was conspicuous in the defence of Missolonghi during the first siege of the city (1822–1823).
On the night of 21 August 1823 he led the celebrated attack on Karpenisi by 350 Souliots, against around 1,000 Ottoman troops who formed the vanguard of the army with which Mustai Pasha was advancing to reinforce the besiegers. Botsaris managed to take Mustai Pasha as a prisoner during the raid, but he was shot in the head and killed in battle by Llesh i Zi, an Albanian.[4]
Many of his family members became key figures of the Greek political establishment. Markos' brother Kostas (Constantine) Botsaris, who also fought at Karpenisi and completed the victory, lived on to become a respected Greek general and parliamentarian in the Greek kingdom.[5] He died in Athens on 13 November 1853. Markos's son, Dimitrios Botsaris, born in 1813, was three times minister of war during the reigns of Otto of Greece and George I of Greece. He died in Athens on 17 August 1870. His daughter, Katerina "Rosa" Botsari, was in the service of Queen Amalia of Greece.
Markos' son, Dimitrios Botsaris became three times Minister of War of Greece, under Kings Otto and George I.[6]
Evangelis Zappas, the renowned benefactor and founder of the modern Olympic Games, was the aide-de-camp and close friend of Markos Botsaris.[7]
Many Philhellenes visiting Greece had admired Botsaris' courage and numerous poets wrote poems about him. American poet Fitz-Greene Halleck wrote a poem entitled Marco Bozzaris, Juste Olivier also wrote an award-winning poem for him, in 1825.[8] The national poet of Greece, Dionysios Solomos, composed a poem titled "On Markos Botsaris", in which he likens the mourning over Botsaris' body to the lamentation of Hector, as described in the last book of the Iliad.[9] His memory is still celebrated in popular ballads in Greece.
Botsaris is also widely considered to be the author of a Greek-Albanian lexicon written in Corfu in 1809, at the insistence of François Pouqueville, Napoleon Bonaparte's general consul at the court of Ali Pasha in Ioannina.[10] The dictionary is of importance for the knowledge of the extinct Souliot dialect.[11] However, although the book is known as the Botsaris dictionary, scholar Xhevat Lloshi has argued in several works that Botsaris couldn't have possibly written that dictionary by himself, both because of his young age, and because of a note of Puqueville that clearly says that the dictionary was drafted under the dictation of Marko's father, uncle, and future father-in-law.[12]
In Greek music, there are various folk songs dedicated to Botsaris, like a Tsamiko from Central Greece, named Song of Markos Botsaris (Greek: του Μάρκου Μπότσαρη),[13] and from the Greek minority of southern Albania (Northern Epirus) (Καημένε Μάρκο Μπότσαρη).[14] In Albanian music (Albanian: Marko Boçari)[15][16] there is a polyphonic song of the 19th century titled Song of Marko Boçari from Suli (Albanian: Kënga e Marko Boçarit nga Suli) lamenting his death.[17]
Botsaris was depicted on the reverse of the Greek 50 lepta coin of 1976-2001.[18] He often adorns posters in Greek classrooms, government offices, and military barracks, as a member of the Greek pantheon of national heroes.