Dimitris Plapoutas

Dimitrios Plapoutas
Δημήτρης Πλαπούτας
A portrait of Plapoutas in Royal Phalanx uniform
Senator
In office 1847–1862
Monarch	Otto
Prime Minister	Kitsos Tzavellas Georgios Kountouriotis Konstantinos Kanaris Antonios Kriezis Alexandros Mavrokordatos Dimitrios Voulgaris Athanasios Miaoulis Ioannis Kolokotronis
Member of Parliament for Karytaina
In office 1844–1847
Monarch	Otto
Prime Minister	Ioannis Kolettis
Personal details
Born	15 May 1786 Paloumpa, Morea Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (now Greece)
Died	5 July 1864 Paloumpa, Kingdom of Greece
Parent	Kollias Plapoutas (Father)
Awards	Order of the Redeemer
Nickname(s)	Koliopoulos Κολιόπουλος
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece
Branch/service	British Army  Hellenic Army
Years of service	18
Rank	General
Unit	1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry Royal Phalanx
Battles/wars	Greek War of Independence Siege of Patras Battle of Lalas Siege of Tripolitsa Battle of Valtetsi Siege of Acrocorinth Battle of Maniaki

Dimitris 'Koliopoulos' Plapoutas (Greek: Δημήτρης Κολιόπουλος Πλαπούτας) (1786 – 1865) was a Greek general who fought during the Greek War of Independence against the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

Biography

Plapoutas was born on in Paloumba in the Arcadia region of the Peloponnese, Ottoman Empire, the son of Kollias Plapoutas, who came from a strong line of Arvanites of Greek Orthodox religion from Epirus at the time, in northwestern Greece. This is of course the reason why Theodoros Kolokotronis referred to him simply as "Koliopoulos" (Greek: Ό Κολιόπουλος).^[1]

In 1811, he left Paloumba for the Ionian Islands where he became an officer in the 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry. In 1818, he joined the Filiki Eteria, which was planning to liberate Greece from Ottoman control.

During the revolution, Dimitris Plapoutas took part in the Siege of Tripolitsa, the capture of the Acrocorinth, the Battle of Valtetsi, the Battle of Maniaki and other battles.

After independence, along with General Theodoros Kolokotronis and General Kitsos Tzavelas, Plapoutas supported Prince Otto of Bavaria as the King of Greece. However, later he opposed the Bavarian-dominated regency during his rule. He was charged with high treason and on 7 June 1834 he was imprisoned at the Palamidi along with Kolokotronis and both sentenced to death and both later pardoned in 1835.^[1] Plapoutas then became involved in Greek politics and served in Parliament (1844–1847) and in the Senate (1847–1862). He was made an honorary bodyguard of King Otto and was entrusted with escorting him to his new kingdom.

Plapoutas also had a brother, Georgios, who fought alongside him in many battles and died in the Battle of Lalas.

When he was around seventy years old, Plapoutas married a woman in her thirties and had one child, a girl named Athanasia. Plapoutas died shortly afterwards.

His house still stands (albeit heavily damaged from an earthquake during the 1960s) in his home town of Paloumpa, Arcadia.

Gallery

• 
  A photograph of Plapoutas in the Royal Phalanx uniform.
• 
  House of Plapoutas
• 
  Plapoutas bust in Ottobrunn, Germany

References