{{Short description|Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle}} {{Infobox Soldier | name = Petros Christou | native_name = Πέτρος Χρήστου | image = Petros Hristos from Velushina greek revolutionary.jpg | caption = Petros Christou c. 1906-1908 | birth_date = c. 1887 | death_date = 21 June 1908 | birth_place = [[Velušina]], [[Monastir Vilayet]], [[Ottoman Empire]] {{small|(now [[Republic of North Macedonia]])}} | death_place = Monastir, [[Monastir Vilayet]], [[Ottoman Empire]] {{small|(now [[Bitola]], [[Republic of North Macedonia]])}} | allegiance = [[File:State Flag of Greece (1863-1924 and 1935-1973).svg|25px]] [[Kingdom of Greece]] | branch = {{flagicon image|Seal of the Greek-Macedonian Committee.jpg}} [[Hellenic Macedonian Committee|HMC]] | service_years = 1906-1908 | battles = [[Macedonian Struggle]] }} '''Petros Christou''' ({{langx|el|Πέτρος Χρήστου}}, 1887 - 21 June 1908) was a [[Slavic speakers in Ottoman Macedonia|Slavophone]] [[Greeks|Greek]] chieftain of the [[Macedonian Struggle]].
== Biography == Christou was born in 1887 in [[Velušina]], then [[Ottoman Empire]] (now [[North Macedonia|Republic of North Macedonia]]). He served as a teacher in [[Gradešnica]]. Later, he joined the armed group of [[Crete|Cretan]] G. Volanis, where he was distinguished for his leadership abilities. He also collaborated with G. Dikonomos Makris. In May 1906 he formed his own armed group that acted in [[Mariovo]] against the [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] [[komitadji]]s and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] military detachments, cooperating with the chieftain [[Simos Ioannidis]].<ref name=Valakopoulos>Κωνσταντίνος Αποστόλου Βακαλόπουλος, Ο ένοπλος αγώνας στη Μακεδονία 1904-1908, publications Ηρόδοτος, Thessaloniki, 1999, p. 291 - 349</ref>
Later, he collaborated with [[Georgios Tsontos]], acting in southern Mariovo and in the region of [[Florina (regional unit)|Florina]] and [[Prespa]].<ref name=Valakopoulos /> At the end of May 1907, due to the departure of Tsontos and a number of chieftains towards [[Korestia]], Christou, with his group, united with the group of G. Proimos, acting in all the areas of Prespa, Florina and southern Mariovo and [[Baba Mountain (North Macedonia)|Pelister]].<ref name=Valakopoulos /> Then he moved south to [[Verno]], where he cooperated with the chieftains I. Karavitis, [[Pavlos Rakovitis]], S. Kleidis and P. Gerogiannis.<ref name=Valakopoulos />
In April 1907, along with the groups of chieftains Pavlos Nikolaidis, G. Tsontos and I. Karavitis, attacked [[komitadji]]s in Florina. Many young local people rushed then to be ranked among the armed groups of those chieftains. At the end of 1907 he took over the defense in the area of the villages of Kabasnitsa (now Proti) and Kladorrachi of Florina.<ref name=Valakopoulos /> In May 1908, after a clash with an Ottoman army detachment, southwest of Monastir (now [[Bitola]]), he escaped to [[Bukovo]], where he was finally arrested. He was hanged on 21 June 1908, in Monastir, as a retaliation for the assassination of Deputy Governor Zeinel Bey of [[Nymfaio]]. In 1960 a bust was erected on a central street in [[Florina]] to honor him.<ref>[http://www.iospress.gr/ios2000/ios20001126a.htm Ο εμφύλιος των προτομών, Εκεί που χάνονται τα αγάλματα, Προτομές με το κιλό, Ιός, ''Κυριακάτικη Ελευθεροτυπία'', 26 November 2000]</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Macedonian Struggle}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Christou, Petros}} [[Category:1887 births]] [[Category:1908 deaths]] [[Category:Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle]] [[Category:Greek Macedonians]] [[Category:People from Bitola Municipality]] [[Category:Macedonian revolutionaries (Greek)]] [[Category:Executed Greek people]] [[Category:People executed by the Ottoman Empire by hanging]] [[Category:20th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire]]