{{Short description|Greek guerrilla fighter}} {{Infobox military person | name = Evangelos Koukoudeas | native_name = Ευάγγελος Κουκουδέας | image = Evangelos Coocoodeas2.JPG | caption = Koukoudeas during the Macedonian Struggle | birth_date = Late 19th century | birth_place = Üstrümce, [[Salonika Vilayet]], [[Ottoman Empire]] {{small|(now [[Strumica]], [[Republic of North Macedonia]])}} | allegiance = {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} [[Kingdom of Greece]]<br>[[File:Flag of the Free State of Ikaria.svg|24px]] [[Icaria#History#Free State of Icaria|Free State of Ikaria]]<br>[[File:Flag of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.svg|24px]] [[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus|Aut. Rep. of Northern Epirus]] | branch = {{army|Greece}} | rank = [[File:GR-Army-OF5-1912.svg|15px]] [[Colonel]] | battles = {{tree list}} *[[Macedonian Struggle]] *[[Icaria#History#Free State of Icaria|Ikarian Revolution]] *[[Balkan Wars]] **[[First Balkan War]] *** [[Battle of Chios (1912)|Battle of Chios]] **[[Second Balkan War]] *[[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus|North Epirote Struggle]] *[[World War I]] **[[Macedonian front]] *[[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)]] {{tree list/end}} }} '''Evangelos Koukoudeas''' ({{langx|el|Ευάγγελος Κουκουδέας}}) was a [[Greeks|Greek]] guerrilla fighter in the [[Macedonian Struggle]] and the [[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus|North Epirote Struggle for Autonomy]], hero of the [[Balkan Wars]], and officer of the [[World War I|First World War]] and [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]].
== Biography == Koukoudeas was born in Üstrümce, then part of the [[Ottoman Empire]] (now [[Strumica]], [[North Macedonia]]) at the end of the 19th century. He came from an old and important family of Strumica. Famous relatives of him were the violinist [[Dimitrios Semsis|Dimitrios Koukoudeas or Semsis]] and the teacher of Strumica's Girls' School, Aikaterini Koukoudea. After graduating from the Greek school in his hometown, he travelled to [[Athens]] in 1905 to escape the Bulgarian attacks and to be enrolled in the armed groups being gathered for the [[Macedonian Struggle]].<ref>Konstantinos A. Vakalopoulos, Ο ένοπλος αγώνας στη Μακεδονία 1904-1908, Irodotos, Thessaloniki, 1999, p. 286</ref> He was also enlisted in the [[Hellenic Navy]] as a [[leading seaman]].
== Macedonian Struggle == After his military service, he went to Macedonia and fought in the region of the [[Giannitsa Lake]] under the general command of [[Ioannis Demestichas]].
On February 14, 1907, the united Greek bodies under Demestichas, Evangelos Koukoudeas, [[Nikolaos Zafeiriou]] from [[Chalkidiki]] and several other Macedonian and Cretan soldiers active in the Lake started from Tsekri (modern Paralimni, [[Pella (regional unit)|Pella]]) and attacked the [[Komitadji]] K. Delithanasis, in Bozej (modern Athyra, Pella). The attack was successful, killing the Komitadji and several of his men barricaded in the former's home. Eventually they left as an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] military detachment appeared in the village.
In March 1907, he was the leader of a small group involved in operations against Komitadjis in [[Koufalia]].<ref>Konstantinos A. Vakalopoulos, Ο ένοπλος αγώνας στη Μακεδονία 1904-1908, Irodotos, Thessaloniki, 1999, p. 189</ref> He fought in the area of the Lake until the end of the [[Macedonian Struggle]].
[[File:Evangelos Coocoodeas.JPG|thumb|left|250px|The chieftain Evangelos Koukoudeas]] Ioannis Demestichas wrote about Koukoudeas (translation from Greek):<ref name="aipos.wikispaces.com">[http://aipos.wikispaces.com/space.template.%CE%9A%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%B4%CE%AD%CE%B1%CF%82+%CE%95%CF%85%CE%AC%CE%B3%CE%B3%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BF%CF%82 Γυμνάσιο Βροντάδου & Φιλοπρόοδος Όμιλος Βροντάδου, ''πολιτιστικό πρόγραμμα'' "Η μάχη του Αίπους. 100 χρόνια μετά", Ευάγγελος Κουκουδέας]</ref>
::''...His long hair, and his modesty remind the hero of the Revolution [[Athanasios Diakos]]. He overflows from patriotic enthusiasm, controlled enthusiasm, without exaggerations.''
::''...I had full confidence on him and I was sure he would do his job under the most difficult circumstances. He would rather die fighting than abandon me in case of danger..''
== Balkan Wars == Before the [[Balkan Wars]], during the [[Italo-Turkish War]] (1911-1912) while the [[Italians]] had occupied the [[Dodecanese]], he went to [[Icaria]] and helped Ioannis Malachias in the revolution against the Ottomans in July 1912, that set up the [[Free State of Icaria]] to prevent the island from being occupied by the Italians
He then created a group of Icarian volunteers for participation in the [[First Balkan War]] and disembarked in [[Chios]] on 14 December 1912, where he took part in the Battle of [[Volissos]] and the Battle of Aipos during the [[Battle of Chios (1912)|Greek occupation of the island]].<ref name="aipos.wikispaces.com"/><ref>[http://aipos.wikispaces.com/%CE%9F%CE%B9+%CE%B5%CE%B8%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%AD%CF%82 Γυμνάσιο Βροντάδου & Φιλοπρόοδος Όμιλος Βροντάδου, ''πολιτιστικό πρόγραμμα'' "Η μάχη του Αίπους. 100 χρόνια μετά", Οι εθελοντές]</ref>
== Northern Epirus, First World War and Greco-Turkish War == After the end of the Balkan Wars he fought for the [[Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus]]. He then moved to the [[United States of America]], where after the [[National Defence coup d'état]] in [[Thessaloniki]] and Greece's entry into [[World War I]], he organized a militia to facilitate the transfer of volunteers to Greece. During the World War he fought as a reserve infantry officer, and was eventually commissioned into the Hellenic Army as a second lieutenant.
He participated in the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]], where he was captured by the [[Turkish National Movement|Turks]]. After his liberation and the end of the war, he continued his career with the Hellenic Army, reaching the rank of [[colonel]].<ref name="aipos.wikispaces.com"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == * Petros G. Karakasonis, Ιστορία της απελευθερώσεως της Χίου κατά το 1912. [History of the Liberation of Chios in 1912] * Gardikas, Ο ναύαρχος Ιωάννης Ν. Δεμέστιχας, Athens 1964 [Admiral Ioannis Demestichias] * [http://www.imma.edu.gr/imma/dbs/Artifacts/index.html?start=0&lq=%CE%9A%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%B4%CE%AD%CE%B1&show=1 Museum of Macedonian Struggle, Photography Collection, Evangelos Koukoudeas]
{{Macedonian Struggle}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koukoudeas, Evangelos}} [[Category:Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]] [[Category:Greek military personnel of World War I]] [[Category:People from Strumica]] [[Category:Greek Macedonians]] [[Category:Macedonian revolutionaries (Greek)]] [[Category:Hellenic Army officers]] [[Category:Greek colonels]] [[Category:19th-century births]] [[Category:20th-century deaths]] [[Category:Year of death missing]]