Konstantinos Mavromichalis (Greek ____________ ____________; 1797 – 1831) – a famous Greek military leader and politician, participant in the Greek Liberation War of 1821-1829, best known as one of the two assassins of the ruler of Greece, John Kapodistrias.

Biography

In the fight against the Turks

Konstantinos Mavromichalis was born in 1797 in Mani and was a representative of the strongest clan of the Maniat Mavromichalis. His father Petros Mavromichalis Sr. fought against the Turks and was the unofficial ruler of Mani. The elder brother of Constantine, Petro-Bey, inherited the title of ruler of Mani. Petro Bey and Konstantinos Mavromichalis were initiated into the secret society Filiki Eteria in 1818.

Konstantinos took part in the Greek Revolution from the very beginning, from March 1821. On March 28, he made an unsuccessful attempt to take the Koroni fortress. In June of the same year, he led the siege of the city of Nafplion.

In 1822 he distinguished himself near the city of Argos, during the invasion of Dramali Pasha (see Battle of Dervenakia).

In June 1825, Konstantinos Mavromichalis, together with the commanders Ioannis Makriyannis and Dmitry Ipsilanti, led the heroic defense of 300 rebels against the Egyptian army of Ibrahim Pasha at the Mills of Argos (Battle of Lernaeus).

Constantinos also distinguished himself in the battle near the village of Poliaravo, in August 1825, when Ibrahim attempted to capture Mani.

As a member of the prominent Maniat family, Konstantinos represented Mani in several National Congresses and was a member of the government from 1824-1825.

The assassination of Kapodistrias

The sad fact is that all the laurels of Constantinos Mavromichalis remain in the shadows and he is best known as one of the 2 assassins of Kapodistrias.

After Count Kapodistrias took over the rule of Greece, he was faced with the phenomena of parochialism and semi-feudal traditions. His confrontation with representatives of shipowners and landowners was most acute with the island of Hydra and with Mani, respectively. Kapodistrias pursued a tactless autocratic policy, regardless of the people’s representatives – the demogheronts. The Mavromichalis family put 40 of their members on the altar of the War of Independence – and the venerable Petro Bey actively opposed the Kapodistrian government. Since Kapodistrias was to some extent connected with Russia, this confrontation was fueled by the French and British embassies and led to the imprisonment of Petro Bey and other members of his family.

In 1830, Tsannis Mavromichalis, brother of Petro-Bey, raised the Maniat rebellion in Morey. Kapodistrias suppressed the uprising and imprisoned Cannis and Petros in Akronafplia prison. Konstantinos Mavromichalis, who also took part in the uprising against Kapodistrias, surrendered to Nafplio – and remained at large, albeit under police surveillance. Since the brother of Konstantinos, Petro Bey, remained in prison, Konstantinos and his nephew George, son of Petro Bey, decided to kill Kapodistrias (not without the participation of the French embassy). On September 27, 1831, Kapodistrias was killed, while Constantinos Mavromichalis was twice wounded by Kapodistrias bodyguard, the Cretan Kozoni, but died from lynching by the crowd. His body was thrown into the sea, not mourned. After 3 days, the mutilated body was thrown ashore by the sea and Konstantinos Mavromichalis was sung and buried by the priest-maniat.