Georgios Karaiskakis (chieftain)

This article is about the chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle, Georgios Karaiskakis. For the leader of the Greek War of Independence, see Georgios Karaiskakis.

Georgios Karaiskakis (Greek: Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης) was a Greek revolutionary chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle.

Georgios Karaiskakis
Georgios Karaiskakis and other revolutionaries c. 1906
Native name	Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης
Born	c. 1880s Bogdanci, Salonika Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Republic of North Macedonia)
Died	1910 Strumica, Salonika Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Republic of North Macedonia)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service / branch	HMC
Years of service	1904-1910
Battles / wars	Macedonian Struggle †

Biography

Karaiskakis was born in the 1880s in Bogdanci, then Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia). In 1904 he was ranked in "Macedonian Defense" and took action with his body in the areas of Gevgelija, Bogdanci, Strumica and Polykastro against Bulgarian komitadjis. Particularly in the area of Polykastro he became the fear of the komitadjis, who used that area as their hideout. He collaborated with various Greek armed forces as the chieftain of his own team and after he had exterminated the komitadjis in the lakes of Artzanis - Amatotovos (now dried), he acted in the region of Strumica, where he fought against the Bulgarian komitadjis until the revolution of the Young Turks in 1908. After 1908, new Bulgarian armed groups acted in Strumica who came from Bulgaria, so Karaiskakis rejoined the armed actions.

Death

Eventually, after 2 years (in 1910), he was killed in the region of Strumica in a battle with an armed group of Bulgarian komitadjis. A bust has been set up to honour him in Evzonoi, Kilkis.

Sources

• Παιονία και Παίονες από τα μυθικά χρόνια ως την τουρκοκρατία, Χρήστος Ίντος, Γουμένισσα 1983
• Κέντρα Οργάνωσης, Δράσης και Αντίστασης των Ελλήνων στο Ν. Κιλκίς κατά την περίοδο του Μακεδονικού Αγώνα, Χρήστος Ίντος, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, Επιστημονικό Συνέδριο «Μακεδονικός Αγών», 100 χρόνια από το θάνατο του Παύλου Μελά, 12-13 November 2004, Macedonian Library, no. 100, Thessaloniki 2006