Papaflessas

Under the Turks' heavy thumb and the Ottomans' reign of terror in early-1820s Greece, the son of a klepht, fervent patriot and cleric, Gregorius Dikaeos Flessas, or Papaflessas, was the selfless revolutionary--who, in complete disregard for his own life--was arming the enslaved Greek "ragiades" with the will to fight for the cherished and long-awaited freedom. Ordained to the highest rank in the clergy, that of Archimandritis, Papaflessas was able to move freely in the region of Moldovlachia--and as a member of the secret organisation, Filiki Eteria--he played a key role in preparing the ground for a nation's imminent uprising to gain its independence. From the commencement of the revolution on March 25, 1821, to his heroic fall on May 20, 1825, in the Battle of Maniaki against Ibrahim Pasha's brutal multitudes, Papaflessas will always be remembered as a hero in the everlasting pantheon of Greece's immortals.