Efkleidis Kourtidis (Pontic: Ευκλείδης Κουρτίδης; 1885–1937) was a Greek resistance leader of Pontos. He fought Turkish troops from the Pontic Alps near Sanda.[1]

Life

He was born in the Ishanandon village of Sanda.[2]

Kourtidis was the head of Greek guerrilla forces based in the town of Santa (Dumanlı), Pontos, that resisted Turkish bands. Kourtidis' struggle with the Turkish army was prolonged; his guerrillas refused to come down from the mountains. However, he was still able to send messages to people outside of Sanda, including the Metropolitan of Rodopolis.[3] During the Pontic Greek Genocide (1912–1922) as part of the wider Greek genocide, he rescued a large number of women and children from the advancing Kemalist armies. They were finally transported safely to Greece.

His statue is erected in Nea Santa, Kilkis, Greece. The statue also bears the names of 141 known Greek genocide victims from Sanda.[4] Upon his death in 1937, Kourtidis' friend wrote a song about him.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Michel Bruneau (2003). "La Mémoire des "Patries Inoubliables": La construction de monuments par les réfugiés d'Asie mineure en Grèce" [The Memory of the "Unforgettable Parties": The construction of monuments by refugees from Asia Minor in Greece]. Press of Sciences Po (in French). Paris Institute of Political Studies. 78: 50. ISSN 0294-1759.
  2. ↑ Nikos A. Marantzides (2001). Γιασασίν Μιλλέτ, Ζήτω το έθνος (in Greek). Πανεπιστημιακές Εκδόσεις Κρήτης. p. 62. ISBN 9789605241315.
  3. ↑ Photiadis, Kostas (2004). The Genocide of the Pontic Greeks (in Greek). Herodotos. p. 572. ISBN 9789608256095.
  4. ↑ Michel Bruneau (2003). "La Mémoire des "Patries Inoubliables": La construction de monuments par les réfugiés d'Asie mineure en Grèce" [The Memory of the "Unforgettable Parties": The construction of monuments by refugees from Asia Minor in Greece]. Press of Sciences Po (in French). Paris Institute of Political Studies. 78: 54. ISSN 0294-1759.
  5. ↑ "Πού είσαι Καπιτάνε?". Pontos World (in Pontic).

Biography

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