The Greek warlords of the War of National Liberation did not have numerous harems of girls like the pashas of the Ottoman Empire, but they often fought on their own to win the hearts of women with their charm, sometimes with sweet words, and sometimes with their power.
The greatest seducers
According to the historical researches, the testimonies and the memoirs, the greatest seducers of that time were the general of Revolution Theodoros Kolokotronis, the general Georgios Karaiskakis, the Mani chief Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis, the Kefalonian fighter and later Prime Minister Andreas Metaxas, the Souliotis Kitsos Tzavellas, the conqueror of Agrinio Giorgakis Barnakiotis, the Stereoelladite fighter Giannis Gouras and, paradoxical as it sounds, the clergyman Grigorios Dikaios or Flessas, better known as Papaflessas.
The infidelity of Georgios Karaiskakis
Karaiskakis was married to Golfo Psarogiannopoulou and had two daughters and a son with her, but it is known that he was often unfaithful to her. After all, his life was adventurous from the beginning. He started out like a thief in the mountains, then became an armatolos (mercenary) and joined the war long after the revolution had begun. He may have joined the Greeks late, but when he did, he gave everything for freedom. He risked his life in almost every battle and advanced.
In battles, he had with him a Christianized Turk woman, Mario, whom he dressed in men's clothes and called "Zafeiri". As reported by the historian Giannis Vlachogiannis in the newspaper "Estia" in 1917, "she had a round face, black eyes and a plait around the red fez with the blue tassel. She wore white cotton socks, a white fur jacket, a skirt, had two pistols and a scabbard, and held a light rifle in one hand. Karaiskakis, far from his family, needed the care of a woman". Once, when his wife complained that he almost always took his mistress to the camp, he replied: "Your concern is silly, I also have things for you, do not disturb me...". The truth is that, according to the sources, he said it much more infamously, but we will not reproduce it exactly.
In general, Karaiskakis spoke very dirty to such an extent that even his men "blushed" when they heard him. It is significant that once in a letter to his cousin, in which he referred to his hated enemy Giannakis Boukouvalas, he wrote, among other things, "let him and the Souliotes and the damned Andreas come, I will f*** his sister and all Xiromero and half Baltos, I will f*** the horns of them all... ".
Manto Mavrogenous' love with Dimitrios Ypsilantis, which ended in hatred
The most famous love story of the Revolution, however, concerns the Honorary Lieutenant General Manto Mavrogenous and the five years older Dimitrios Ypsilantis. She was 25 years old at the outbreak of the Revolution and he was 30. The first acquaintance of the wealthy Mykoniatissa and the wealthy Prince Phanariot is said to have taken place in Trieste. The romance flared up, they fell in love almost from the first moment, very quickly they became a couple and became engaged. Ypsilantis promised her in writing that he would marry her immediately after the end of the war and the liberation of their homeland.
Confident of the impending marriage, Manto never felt the need to hide their relationship. It is typical that whenever she was in camp, she would go to her lover's tent and sleep there. However, the political world of the time did not like this relationship, seeing that two strong pro-Russian families would unite. So the French lover Ioannis Kolettis decides to divorce them.
First, taking advantage of the fact that Ypsilantis was suffering from a chronic lung disease, he sends the prince's two personal doctors to Manto to describe to her the state of her lover's health and tell her that if she did not leave him, he would die and the motherland would lose an important defender. With a "heavy" heart she packed her things and left Nafplio, where she lived, so as not to disturb her lover. But he was informed of her departure and repeatedly invited her to return with fiery love letters, and so she did.
The rumors spread by the insidious Kolettis, in order to spoil the relationship
In 1825, however, the insidious Kolettis spread the rumor that the beautiful Manto was also having an affair with the British philhellene Edward Blackier. Ypsilantis feels betrayed and he breaks off the relationship, although she tries every means to convince him of her innocence. Kolettis was even accused of organizing the kidnapping of Mavrogenous by hooded men who took her to Mykonos to separate her from her young lover. The young couple never spoke to each other again as love turned to hatred.
It is significant that during the Third National Assembly, Manto Mavrogenous asked to read a report she had written against Ypsilantis, attaching the written marriage vows. The National Assembly presidium treated her disparagingly and the text was never read.
The extramarital affair of Theodoros Kolokotronis with a former nun
There were few love affairs that General Theodoros Kolokotronis had. While imprisoned by his countrymen at the Prophet Elias monastery in Hydra, he was cared for by a former nun, Margarita, with whom he quickly fell in love and with whom he had a child, whom he named Panos - that is, he gave him the same name as his son who died in 1824 during the Civil War and had joined the ranks of the Greeks in the midst of the Revolution.
The Elder of Moria(he was called like that) not only did not care what people would say, but he included the child in his will, even though his friends and acquaintances were opposed to such a move. Thus he wrote in his will, "I also leave to my son Panagiotakis a share which I acquired with Margarita, the daughter of Angelis Velissaris from Halikianika". But he did not succeed in making him very happy, for he left this vain world on February 4, 1843, when the little one was only two years old. As he grew up, he became an officer, director of the Athens-Piraeus police, a follower of King George I and commander of the Guards School.
The kidnapping of the married 16-year-old by Vassos Mavrovouniotis
One of the most important Balkan philhellenes was Vassos Mavrovouniotis of Slavic origin. With the beginning of the Revolution, he became the leader of an armed group formed by his relatives, Montenegrins and Serbs, and active first in Euboea, where he participated in at least ten battles against the Ottomans. Once a brigand, adventurer, mercenary and prison inmate, he moved to Hydra in 1824 to help defend the island. The President of the Executive of Hydra (Prime Minister) George Kountouriotis recognizes his contribution and promotes him to General.
In 1826, Mavrovouniotis will be in Kea. There he meets a dazzling 16-year-old girl, Eleni. Those who saw her were dazzled by her beauty, praised by the French philhellenic writer François Auguste René, Viceroy Satombrian and the poet Panagiotis Soutsos among others. Elego, as she was called, will "enchant" Vassos Mavrovouniotis, who without hesitation went to her parents to give her to him. But they refused, simply because she was already married to the consul of France, Michael-Georges Pangalos. When they realize the intentions, they ask him to leave.
But he does not give up. He kidnaps her, takes her to the village of Ammolochos in Andros and locks her in the stone tower of Dimitrios Giannoulis, who was his friend. He even places guards at the entrances so that no one would try to take her back. At the same time, he hires a slave girl from Volos to take care of her and send her food out the window with a rope. Elego will be confined there for many months. When he returns from the battles, Vassos Mavrovouniotis, is informed that the 16-year-old's husband has died - some say he may have "run away" because of his misery. As a result, he marries her. Now as a lawful wife, he takes her to Piraeus and continues his military action. The young girl is now constantly at his side, sometimes taking on the duties of a nurse at the front and sometimes those of a secretary since her husband could not read or write. It is even said that she helps him solve the siege of Karystos and conducts his correspondence.
After the revolution, the couple settled in Salamina and their house became the center of opposition to the governor Ioannis Kapodistrias. When Othonas was crowned king, the Mavrovouniotis family settled in Athens, with Eleni, still one of the most beautiful and hospitable hostesses of the time, organizing dances attended by the entire aristocracy of the day. She herself occupied herself with riding and music while dressing in European dresses. However, their marriage was dissolved in 1839 through the fault of Eleni, who apparently died of old age.
