Ioannis Martzios

Ioannis Martzios (Greek: Ιωάννης Μάρτζιος) or Martsios or Bartsios was a significant Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle

Ioannis Martzios in the early 20th century.

Biography

Martzios was born in the 1870s in Gornica (now Kali Vrysi) of Drama.[1] When he was 14, Bulgarian komitadjis assassinated his father. He finished school in Alistrati and continued his studies in Poros.

Armed actions

He returned to Macedonia and specifically to Serres, where he joined the armed group of Doukas Gaitatzis. Soon he was distinguished for his abilities and became a co-leader of the body that operated in the Zichni area.[2] He took part with Gaitatzis in various confidential missions, such as against the komitadji Todor Panitsa, in Gratsiani (now Agiochori).

He then formed his own armed body and acted throughout the area of Serres and Fyllida. He collaborated with the local bodies of the chieftains Vasileios Tsouvaltzis and Theodoros Boulasikis. With his body he took part in important battles against Bulgarian komitadjis in Pursovo (now Anthochori) and in Karlikova (now Mikropoli).[3][4][5]

On July 24, 1908, following the Young Turk Revolution and the granting of a general amnesty, he entered the city of Serres, where the citizens received him as a hero.[6] A street in Serres bears his name.[7]

References

1. Konstantinos A. Vakalopoulos, Ο ένοπλος αγώνας στη Μακεδονία 1904-1908, Irodotos, Thessaloniki, 1999, p. 266
2. Παύλου Λ. Τσάμη, Μακεδονικός Αγών, ΕΜΣ, Thessaloniki 1975, p. 402.
3. John S. Koliopoulos (editor), Αφανείς, γηγενείς Μακεδονομάχοι, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 2008, p. 155
4. Αρχείο Διεύθυνσης Εφέδρων Πολεμιστών Αγωνιστών Θυμάτων Αναπήρων (ΔΕΠΑΘΑ), Αρχείο Μακεδονικού Αγώνα, φ. Ν-684
5. P. Pennas Ο Μακεδονικός Αγών στην περιοχή της Ζίχνας, Σερραϊκά Χρονικά, part 7 (1976), p. 177
6. Public Central Library of Serres, Dictionary
7. Νικόλαος Χρ. Χρηστίδης, Oι δρόμοι των Σερρών & η ονοματολογία, Σέρρες 2012, p. 103.