Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian

Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian
Mazarakis-Ainian during the Macedonian Struggle
Born	1869[1] Kythnos
Died	1949 Athens
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece Second Hellenic Republic
Service/branch	Hellenic Army
Years of service	1890–1926
Rank	Lieutenant General
Wars	Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars, Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922
Relations	Lt. Gen. Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian (brother)

Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Μαζαράκης-Αινιάν, 1869–1949) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.

Life

Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian was born in the island of Kythnos in 1869. He entered the Hellenic Army Academy and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant of Artillery in 1890. He fought in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and led a guerrilla band during the Macedonian Struggle under the nom de guerre of Kapetan Akritas (Καπετάν Ακρίτας). In the Balkan Wars, he led volunteer scout detachments; his units operated in advance and in the flanks of the main army, and played a crucial role in the capture of vital bridges and railways.

By 1916, he was placed in Thessaloniki as the commander of a mountain artillery regiment. He played a major role in the September 1916 coup d'état by the Venizelist "Movement of National Defence", and served as head of the Artillery Directorate in the subsequent National Defence government. In 1918 he was posted to Bern as Greek military attaché to Switzerland. He returned to Greece in 1919 to assume command of the Xanthi Division during the occupation of Western Thrace. In 1920, he led his division to a landing on Bandirma during the Greek offensive against the Kemalists, and shortly after in the occupation of Eastern Thrace, against the local Turkish forces of Cafer Tayyar.

Following the Greek defeat in Anatolia by the Kemalists in August 1922, he chaired the commission of inquiry into the reasons for the defeat. He was promoted to Lieutenant General, and retired from service on 11 October 1926. He died in 1949.

Sources

• Μεγάλη Στρατιωτική και Ναυτική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία. Τόμος Δ′: Καβάδης – Μωριάς [Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia. Volume IV] (in Greek). Athens. 1929. p. 424.

1. Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.