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Michalis Kourmoulis: Biography

Michalis Kourmoulis was a leader of the Greek War of Independence from Crete. He came from an important Cretan family that had flourished under Venetian rule but later converted to Islam under Ottoman rule while remaining crypto-Christians. Kourmoulis participated in preparing for the Greek Revolution and revealed his true Christian faith in 1821. He became a leader of armed Greeks in Messara during the revolution. Kourmoulis fought Ottoman forces and was appointed as a military commander. After the suppression of the revolution on Crete, he fled to Hydra where he later died from wounds in 1824.

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41 views2 pages

Michalis Kourmoulis: Biography

Michalis Kourmoulis was a leader of the Greek War of Independence from Crete. He came from an important Cretan family that had flourished under Venetian rule but later converted to Islam under Ottoman rule while remaining crypto-Christians. Kourmoulis participated in preparing for the Greek Revolution and revealed his true Christian faith in 1821. He became a leader of armed Greeks in Messara during the revolution. Kourmoulis fought Ottoman forces and was appointed as a military commander. After the suppression of the revolution on Crete, he fled to Hydra where he later died from wounds in 1824.

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Michalis Kourmoulis

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Michalis Kourmoulis (Greek: Μιχάλης Κουρμούλης, 1765 – 1824[1]) was a Greek
leader of the Greek War of Independence from Crete and one of the major military
leaders on the island during the war.

Contents

 1Biography
 2References
 3Bibliography
 4External links

Biography[edit]
Kourmoulis was originally known as Hussein Agha, and was the leader of an
important Cretan family from Messara that was flourishing since the time of
the Venetian rule over Crete. After the Ottoman conquest of Crete, the Kourmoulis
family converted to Islam, producing several beys and aghas, but remaining Crypto-
Christians in reality.[2] Both Kourmoulis and his family protected the Christians
of Dikti and Psiloritis region. In 1814, in response to the murder of some
armed Ottomans, Kourmoulis was accused as a secret Christian, but managed to be
acquitted.[3]
He participated in the preparation of the Greek Revolution in Crete, being a member of
the Filiki Eteria after being initiated by Gregorios Kallonas. During the Easter of 1821,
while he was in Chania, he revealed in public his Christian faith. When the revolution
broke out in Crete, he became head of his family, which numbered 75 armed men [3] as
well as head of the armed Greeks of Messara.[4]
Initially, together with other local leaders he laid ambushes on the Ottoman forces in
the Rethymno area, whilelater he temporarily fled to Kassos with other rebels, only to
return later in Crete.[5] His compatriots proposed him to Demetrios Ypsilantis as a
candidate for the position of the general chief of Crete, but eventually Michail Komninos
Afentoulief was selected by Ypsilantis.[6] He was appointed as pentakosiarch[7] and
managed to repeatedly beat the Ottoman military officers, Sherif and Hassan Pasha. He
was also one of the first leaders to set up a Greek cavalry unit. [8] After the suppression of
the revolution on the island by the Egyptian army, Michael Kourmoulis fled
to Hydra where he died from his wounds in 1824. His brother Georgios and his son
Dimitris offered important services in the Revolution.

References[edit]
1. ^ Πατρίς: Πώς ο Χουσεΐν Αγάς έγινε ο επαναστάτης Μιχαήλ Κουρμούλης.
2. ^ Dionysios Kokkinos, Η Ελληνική Επανάστασις, εκδόσεις Μέλισσα, 6th edition, Athens 1974,
vol. 2, p. 23 - 24.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Kokkinos, 1974, vol. 2, p. 24 - 25.
4. ^ Kokkinos, 1974, vol. 1, p. 624.
5. ^ Kokkinos, 1974, vol. 2, p. 42 - 43.
6. ^ Kokkinos, 1974, vol. 2, p. 47 - 48.
7. ^ Kokkinos, 1974, vol. 2, p. 52.
8. ^ Σύγχρονος Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Ελευθερουδάκη, vol. 15, p. 123 (1928).

Bibliography[edit]
 Dionysios Kokkinos, Η Ελληνική Επανάστασις, εκδόσεις Μέλισσα, 6th edition,
Athens, 1974.

External links[edit]
 Πατρίς: Πώς ο Χουσεΐν Αγάς έγινε ο επαναστάτης Μιχαήλ Κουρμούλης.

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