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I am Theodoros Kolokotronis, also called the Old Man of Moria. I was born in 1770, on Bright Monday, in old Messinia, in a place called Ramavouni.
Born into a family that has been at constant war with the Turks since the 16th century. Many of my relatives were killed, at least 70 in number, including my father.
The next step was to dedicate my life to the struggle for the liberation of Greece. I initiated into the “FilikE Eterea”, a secret organization whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece, and establish an independent Greek state. Then I was waiting my landing in Mani at 1821, from where the beginning of the revolution was proclaimed.
Since then I participated in many battles, such as that of Valtetsi and Tripolitsa as well as the battle of Dervenakia where I showed my strategic acumen, destroying the army of Mahmut Dramalis Pasha, the Pasha of Drama.
After this victory, I was appointed commander-in-chief of the revolutionary forces, later imprisoned, released in 1825, and again, took over the chief strategy of the Struggle, where, as an expert in guerrilla warfare, I managed to keep the revolution alive until the Battle of Navarino in 1827.
I joined forces with Ioannis Kapodistrias, and managed to become one of the prominent figures of the Russian Political Party, while during the Regency, I was expelled as regent, and sentenced to death. King Othon, however, granted me the sentence and in fact, appointed me an advisor to the State, naming me lieutenant general!
I spent the last years of my life quietly in my house in Athens, at the corner of today's Kolokotroni and Lekka streets.
