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April 3,1770, birth
Theodoros Kolokotronis was born at Ramavouni (Ραμαβούνι), a mountain in Messenia, and was baptised in the village of Piana. He descended from a family of klephts, originally from the historical village of Roupaki at the border of Messenia and Arcadia, located nearby the settlement of Tourkoleka. He grew up in the village of Libovitsi, Arcadia, in the central Peloponnese. -
Kolokotroni's promotion
In 1805 he joined the Russian Navy during the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812). In 1806 Ottoman attacks against the klefts forced Kolokotronis to flee to the island of Zakynthos .When Zakynthos was occupied by the British, he obtained useful military experience while serving under the command of Richard Church, a philhellene, in the 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry; in 1810, Kolokotronis was promoted to the rank of major. -
Kolokotroni;s first action
Kolokotronis's first action was the defense of Valtetsi, the village near Tripoli where his army was mustering. Later, he was also the Commander of the Greek forces during the Siege of Tripolitsa. -
Parliamentary crisis
From December 1823 to February 1825, he took part in the civil wars among the various Greek factions; when his party was finally defeated, he was jailed in Hydra with some of his followers in March 1825, and was released only when an Egyptian army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha invaded the Morea. His eldest son, Panos Kolokotronis, was killed during the second civil war. -
Against Ibrahim
Kolokotronis decided to not confront Ibrahim in an open field battle and used guerrilla tactics and scorched earth policy against him; but given his limited resources, was unable to prevent the widespread destruction that Ibrahim left in his wake. Still, in 1825, in recognition of his military acumen and many services to the Greek cause, he was appointed commander-in-chief of Greek forces in the Peloponnese. -
Postbellum Activities
After the war, Kolokotronis became a supporter of Count Ioannis Kapodistrias and a proponent of alliance with Russia. When the count was assassinated on 8 October 1831, Kolokotronis created his own administration in support of Prince Otto of Bavaria as a King of Greece. -
Kolokotroni's death
Theodoros Kolokotronis died in 1843 in Athens one day after his son Konstantinos's wedding and after a feast at the Royal Palace, in presence of King Otto.