Stavros Kotsopoulos


Stavros Kotsopoulos was a significant Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle

Biography

He was born and raised in Banitsa of Florina in 1870s. He started his armed activities very early against the Bulgarian komitadjis. After several operations of him he was wanted by the Ottoman authorities and chased by Bulgarian armed groups. For this reason, he flew to the United States in 1905. His intense actions against the Bulgarians and the constant clashes in which he participated made him wanted even in the United States in result him escaping back to Macedonia.
He was enlisted in the group of chieftain Nikolaos Andrianakis for the period 1907–1908. In 1908 he was arrested by the Ottoman authorities and imprisoned in Monastir. He was sentenced to death by the Ottoman court, but before his execution he managed to escape again to abroad.
In 1909 he returned to Macedonia, head of an armed group consisting of 6 Cretans. His body acted against the Bulgarian groups until the liberation of the region in 1912, killing the most dangerous komitadjis in the area of his hometown, Banitsa.
Later, he fought for the Independence of Northern Epirus, during the Second World War and during the Axis occupation of Greece, developing strong resistance actions against the Italians and the Germans from 1941 to 1944.