Odysseas Androutsos

(2008). Androutsos born in Ithaca between 1788 and 1790. His father was Andreas Verousis (, ), an Albanian and klepht from Livanates, in Phthiotis prefecture, who sought to become armatolos of Livadeia and later cooperated with Ali pasha, became again a klepht and finally joined Lambros Katsonis () as a privateer in the Greek insurrection of 1770. He was raised by his mother Akrivi Tsarlampa (), a native of Preveza. His godparents were Maria Sofianou, Katsonis's wife, and Ioannis Zavos, a notable of Ithaca, who gave him a name that relates to the reappropriation of antiquity by Orthodox Christians in the context of the modern Greek Enlightenment. Odysseas did not get to know his father, who was captured in 1792 and committed to an Ottoman jail, where he died. After his mother's family participated in the failed defense of Preveza against the attack of Ali Pasha in 1798, they sought refuge to Lefkada, where Odysseas was raised for two years along with future poet Ioannis Zambelios. == Ali Pasha era ==

As his family probably faced economic difficulties, influenced by his father's fame and, as per his biographers, due to his father's old acquaintance with Ali Pasha, at a certain point between 1805 and 1810 Odysseas opted to follow a career as a man of arms and decided to join Ali's army in Ioannina, signifying a shift of his family's orientation towards the only stable power of the area. Odysseas is recorded to have taken part and displayed his military qualities in Ali's campaign against Berat, Gjirokastër and the Christians of Kardhiq. In March 1814 he had become the leader of Ali's personal guard. Most of the armatoles had learned their military skills among the Christian Albanian Souliotes and other Albanian groups who had a renowned tradition in irregular warfare. Androutsos also managed to learn Albanian and Italian fluently. Androutsos was influenced by Ali Pasha's political attitudes and behavior: as such Androutsos became later particularly notorious for his brutality, suspiciousness and personal ambition. Androutsos was soon found in antagonism with Ali's men, as such Ali had ordered his execution but was saved after intervention by Alexis Noutsos. In 1816 Ali Pasha positioned him as armatolos of Livadeia in eastern central Greece. In a short time Odysseas managed to restore security in his region, with minor klephts, like Yannis Gouras, joining his tayfa and stronger, like Dimitrios Panourgias, being forced to submit, and implemented Ali's policy and traditional armatole practice of raids in neighboring areas, namely Athens and Evia. With Ali's support and using despotic methods, he came into conflict with Christian and Muslim notables and succeeded in curbing their power. While an armatolos, he used his authority to increase his economic power, formed a close circle of trusted lieutenants, like Gouras and Angelis Govginas, amassed considerable mobile property, married Eleni Kareli, daughter of a notable of Kalarrytes, and emerged as the most powerful man of arms in eastern Central Greece. It seems that he was promoted to general derven-aga of eastern Central Greece, a superintendent of the region's armatoloi. In January 1821, Androutsos together with the other armatoli of Rumeli, among them Georgios Varnakiotis, Dimitrios Panourgias, Dimitrios Makris, Georgios Karaiskakis, gathered at Lefkada and agreed to join the upcoming Greek revolution. ==Greek Revolution==

. In March 1821 Androutsos went to western Continental Greece, where he tried to organise local chieftains, notables and Albanian agas against the Sultan and made a failed attempt to force the region's armatoloi to revolt by attacking Ottomans in Tatarna of Evritania. With Diakos, his opponent, dead, the field was now auspicious for Androutsos to return to Livadeia and assume a leading position in eastern Central Greece. His plan failed, however, because the Greek Government did not provide him with the military supplies that he had requested. Androutsos's failure in Phthiotis was used as a pretext by the Government to degrade him, and two other revolutionaries, Christos Palaskas and Alexios Noutsos, were sent to replace him. Palaskas was to relieve him of the military command and Noutsos was to take over the taxation apparatus, but Androutsos had both men killed. The regional assembly, fearing for their lives, fled to other areas and the army of Dramali passed through his area of command virtually untouched. In the consequent clash with his political opponent Ioannis Kolettis and the Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece, he was accused of collaboration with the Ottomans and the government dismissed him from his commanding duties. However, he was soon restored and kept his command in Eastern Central Greece. In September 1822, at the insistence of the Athenian municipal authorities, Androutsos, Yannis Gouras, and Yannis Makriyannis took control of the Acropolis of Athens, which had been surrendered in June. To ensure the occupation he had a bastion built to protect the ancient Klepsydra spring, which had just been rediscovered by chance on the north-western slope of the rock. Androutsos made himself general-in-chief of Attica, and sent his men to plunder the wealthy villages of the region. In late 1822 Androutsos contacted the Ottomans and offered to sign a secret agreement under which he would recognize their authority if they gave him a hereditary title of armatoliki. Androutsos (referred to as Kapudan (Captain) Disava in Ottoman Archival Documents) , 1829). In his letters to the Greek chieftains and to the kodjabashis of Hydra, however, Androutsos claimed that the agreements made with the Ottomans were a ruse so that the revolutionaries would have time to transfer their people to more secure areas. In a letter to Demetrios Ypsilantis, the president of the Greek Legislative Corps, Androutsos also reports that he attempted to lure the Ottomans under the command of Köse Mehmed Pasha into a trap, to no avail. Eventually, Odysseas Androutsos completely paralyzed Köse Mehmed's operations in Central Greece. ==Downfall==

In early 1825, as the Greek Government still wanted to take the command and replace him, Androutsos, in anger, The provisional government accused Androutsos of collaboration with the Ottomans and imprisoned him in the Frankish Tower of the Acropolis of Athens. He was not given a trial due to the belief that his democratic character could turn the people against the government. Once he was imprisoned, Androutsos was tortured and ultimately executed. The execution came at the order of Ioannis Gouras, who was once Androutsos' second in command. His execution took place on 5 June 1825 and was carried out by Ioannis Mamouris and two others. This treatment by Gouras is often viewed negatively. ==Posthumous recognition==

In 1865, his body was recovered from the base of the Acropolis and given a proper funeral at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. He was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens, where he remained for just over a century. On 15 July 1967, his bones were moved to an ossuary beneath a statue of himself in the central square of Preveza. ==Legacy==

. Popular tradition in Greece considers him a tragic hero. According to some scholars, Androutsos is listed among the main Greek military figures and heroes of the Greek war of Independence. According to others, he was a traitor to the Greek cause. Among those who lived in the same period, Edward Trelawny who was married to his half-sister presents him as a noble figure, while Thomas Gordon calls him a "physically imposing man" who was "bloodthirsty, vindictive and as treacherous as an Arnaut" and "guilty of barbarious acts". According to Thanos M. Veremis, Androutsos was among those Greek freedom fighters who became heroes in a West lacking its own similar heroes at the time. Vasileios Sfyroeras argues that long-lasting negotiations with the Ottomans, which were conducted by Androutsos and many other chieftains during the revolution, had benefited the Greek cause multiple times and were often arranged for tactical reasons. In his view, such negotiations were providing the revolutionaries enough time to save Christian populations from plunder and murder by the Ottoman armies, rally troops and, later, fight and defeat their enemies in numerous engagements. Apart from his military nature, Androutsos also corresponded with representatives of the modern Greek Enlightenment such as Adamantios Korais and Neophytos Vamvas, Androutsos also founded a number of schools (1824–1825), started a charitable society and preserved Greek antiquities. His style generally displayed that of the noble brigrand. According to William St Clair, Androutsos' higher ambition was only to be a local chieftain and he certainly did not care for any concept of Greece, or regeneration, or the typical Greek and Philhellenic myths. As such St Clair states that Androutsos was a typical Greek of his time but his perspective was inconsistent to many Philhellenes who were struggling to comprehend the Greek political scene. For them Androutsos had to be inserted into some philhellenic ideal because to them he was a "true Greek", who dwelled in the mountains and was a "colourful" and "powerful" figure with a prominent Greek-sounding name. Stanhope even viewed Androutsos as the hope of restoring a constitutional republic in Greece, which is probably the most misconstrued of all views of Androutsos' character. Androutsos has been held up as a symbol of innate Greek values and freedom, in particular by the Greek left wing in times of political repression. Arts Poems dedicated to Androutsos have been written by various Greek poets: Georgios Zalokostas, Spyros Zampelios, Parashos, Kostis Palamas, Georgios Stratigis and Zacharias Papantoniou. Odysseas Androutsos (1928) by Dimitris Kaminakis became the first Greek movie dedicated to events of the Greek War of Independence. Sports The soccer team of the town of Gravia, Odysseas Androutsos F.C. is named after him, as is the cultural association of his ancestral village of Livanates. ==See also==