French diplomat and historian François Pouqueville stated that they are descendants of the "Selloi", an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity. Adamantios Korais, major figure of the modern Greek Enlightenment states in 1803 that the Souliotes are the "pride of the Greeks". During the Greek War of Independence Kitsos Tzavelas in his speech to the Third National Council of the provisional Greek government in 1826 stresses the sacrifice of the Souliotes for a common fatherland.