Avrosoglu, Ioannis

Ioannis Avrasoglu was born in 1875 in the Ottoman town of Stenimahos . According to other sources, he was born in 1869.

He studied at the Stenimachos Greek School and the Zarifis Greek School in Philippupol. He graduated from high school in Athens .

Entered the Evelpid Military School , graduating with the rank of junior lieutenant of artillery.

He took part in the short-term, however strange, the Greek-Turkish war of 1897, as commander of an artillery battery. He was presented to the award by his commander, Konstantin Damianos ^[2] .

At the beginning of the 20th century, on the territory of Macedonia still occupied by the Turks, the Greek population faced another threat. The Bulgarian claims to Macedonia and the violent actions of the supporters of the Bulgarian Exarchate , with the indulgence of the Turkish authorities, against the supporters of the Patriarchate of Constantinople , forced the Macedonian Greeks to create self-defense units and conduct military actions against both the Turks and the Bulgarians. A few dozen junior officers left the Greek army and volunteered for Macedonia. Among them is Lieutenant I. Avrosoglu ^[3] . However, given the fact that Greece officially did not take part in the events, they acted under pseudonyms.

Avrosoglu was sent to the Greek consulate in Thessaloniki . From June 1904, by order of the consulate, junior officers G.Kakulidis , Exadaktilos , K. Mazarakis , Moraitis, Kakkavos, Avrasoglu and S. Spiromilios began to systematically gather information on the spot, to organize the Greek self-defense in Macedonia.

Later, John Avrasoогlu was ordered to form a detachment near the city of Stromnica . Avrosoglu organized a small detachment of 15 people and led him under the pseudonym Amvrakiotis (Αμβρακιώτης).

In one of the episodes of military propaganda, in August 1906, his detachment was spotted by nomadic Gypsies in the town of Sari-Koy near the city of Kilkis . Assistant Avrosoglu offered him to eliminate the Gypsies, fearing that they would give the detachment to the Turks. Avrasoglu refused to kill the Gypsies, but they then really gave the location of the camp of his squad to the Turks.

The detachment was surrounded by a Turkish military unit of 300 soldiers. In the ensuing battle, the assistant commander Triandafillu and two other partisans died. All others were injured and having exhausted the ammunition were captured. All survivors of this battle were brought to Thessaloniki, where they were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 5 years.

But Avrosoglu remained in prison of the episcopalgio of the Thessaloniki fortress for a short time. Doctor D. Zannas, an active participant in the Struggle for Macedonia, bribed a Turkish security guard, who assisted in the escape of Avrosoglu and another of the prisoners. On December 6, 1906, a fugitive Avrosoglu took refuge in the consulate of Greece in Thessaloniki ^{[4] [5]} , after which he was forwarded to the Greek Kingdom

Avrosoglu took part in the anti-monarchist officer movement of 1909, led by Colonel N. Zorbas , who called the revolutionary E. Venizelos into the political arena of Greece and prepared the Greek army for the advancing Balkan wars .

With the beginning of the First Balkan War and being enlisted in the headquarters of the second division, Avrosoglu took part in the liberation of the city of Elasson in the battles of Sarantoporo , at Jannitsa and at Pest, Epirus . Subsequently, taking command of the field artillery battalion, he took part in the Battle of Bizani and the liberation of the capital of Epirus, the city of Ioannina .

In the Second Balkan War , against the Bulgarians, and continuing to command his artillery battalion, he took part in the victorious battles for Greek weapons at Kilkis and Lachan and after the Battle of Kresna Gorge reached the town of Gorna Dzhumaya , 100 km from the Bulgarian capital.

After the outbreak of the First World War and the National split , Avrosoglu followed in 1916, E. Venizelos and joined the army of the National Defense created by the latter, in which he took command of mountain artillery . Immediately afterwards, he became chairman of the military tribunal of Thessaloniki and head of the interim military ministry of the Soviet government, before he moved to Athens.

In 1917, at his own request, he was transferred to an artillery regiment armed with British howitzers. He took part in battles in the area of ​​Lake Doyran, before the surrender of Bulgaria in November 1918.

Avrosoglu did not directly participate in the Asia-Pacific campaign of the Greek Army (1919–1922) following the end of World War II. He was entrusted with the organization and preparation of artillery batteries sent to Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace .

After the parliamentary elections in November 1920, when monarchists returned to power in Greece, Avrosoglu was transferred to the reserve and sent to the city of Tripoli , and then Amfisa , after which he was dismissed as a lieutenant general.

Lieutenant-General I. Avrasoglu died in Athens in 1967 ^[6] .