Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian

Alma materHellenic Military AcademyRelationsAlexandros Mazarakis-Ainian (brother)
Aganice Ainianos (mother)
Ioannis Mazarakis-Ainian (son)

Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, c. 1869–1949) was a Hellenic Army officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Life

Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian was born in the island of Kythnos in about 1869. He entered the Hellenic Military Academy and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Artillery in 1890. He fought in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and led a guerrilla band during the Macedonian Struggle under the nom de guerre of Kapetan Akritas (Καπετάν Ακρίτας). In the Balkan Wars, he led volunteer scout detachments; his units operated in advance and in the flanks of the main army, and played a crucial role in the capture of vital bridges and railways.

By 1916, he was placed in Thessaloniki as the commander of a mountain artillery regiment. He played a major role in the September 1916 coup d'état by the Venizelist "Movement of National Defence", and served as head of the Artillery Directorate in the subsequent National Defence government. In 1918, he was posted to Bern as Greek military attaché to Switzerland. He returned to Greece in 1919 to assume command of the Xanthi Division during the occupation of Western Thrace. In 1920, he led his division to a landing on Bandirma during the Greek offensive against the Kemalists, and shortly after in the occupation of Eastern Thrace, against the local Turkish forces of Cafer Tayyar.

Following the Greek defeat in Anatolia by the Kemalists in August 1922, he chaired the commission of inquiry into the reasons for the defeat. He was promoted to Lieutenant General, and retired from service on 11 October 1926.

He died in 1949.

Gallery

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  A painting of Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian during the Macedonian Struggle.
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  Seal of Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian, used during the Macedonian Struggle.
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  The band of Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian.
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  Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian and the Mufti of Kavala c. 1913

Sources

Macedonian CommitteeArmed bands leaders & participants
(with nom de guerre)Consular officials &
undercover agentsRelated