page_title: Anthimos Gazis
section_title: Revolutionary activity
hierarchical_section_title: Anthimos Gazis / Revolutionary activity
caption_attribution_description: Ermis o Logios (in Greek: Ερμής ο Λόγιος), cover of 1818 issue
context_page_description: Anthimos Gazis or Gazes was a Greek scholar, revolutionary and politician. He was born in Milies in Ottoman Greece in 1758 into a family of modest means. In 1774 he became a deacon; his career later brought him to Constantinople where he was promoted to archimandrite. He left for Vienna in 1789, where he preached at the Church of Saint George, while simultaneously pursuing his academic interests. His efforts to promote education in Greece through the Filomousos Eteria, translation work and contributions to the first Greek philological periodical, Hermes o Logios, played a significant role in the development of the Greek Enlightenment.
  In 1817, he joined the Filiki Eteria secret society and returned to his homeland, recruiting others in preparation for an anti–Ottoman revolt. In 1821, with the start of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire he led the Greek insurgents in Magnesia. After the suppression of the revolt there, he went to Central Greece. He represented Magnesia in National Assemblies of Epidaurus and Astros and worked in commissions regarding military affairs and education.
context_section_description: On 1 September 1813, the Filomousos Eteria was founded in Athens, with Gazis among its four curators. Its goals were the propagation of education in Greece, providing funds for poor students, publishing works of classical literature and the preservation of antiquities. The organization influenced the spread of the ideas of the Modern Greek Enlightenment, indirectly promoting nationalism. On 1 January 1815, Gazis opened a second chapter of the Filomousos Eteria in Vienna. He developed a lively correspondence with German classicist Friedrich Thiersch, who in turn assisted Greek students in enrolling into Bavarian universities. Funds funneled from British and Russian donors covered the student's expenses. The Austrian intelligence service took note of Gazis' activities in the Filomousos Eteria as well as his close relationship with the Russian community in Vienna, ordering his surveillance. Gazis quit as rector in 1815. His reasoning was that he answered the call of patriotic speeches (made by Adamantios Korais and Ioannis Kapodistrias) and would return to his homeland. In the spring of 1817, he traveled east through the Danubian Principalities to Odessa where he met the leadership and after some hesitation joined Filiki Eteria, a secret organization tasked with overthrowing Ottoman rule of Greece and replacing it with an independent Greek state. Passing through Constantinople, he returned to Milies to teach in the local school. In March 1818, he was visited by Athanasios Tsakalov who proposed relocating the leadership of Filiki Eteria to Pelion, Gazis disagreed, claiming that the Mani Peninsula would be a better choice and thus the plan did not materialize. Gazis traveled through Magnesia under the pretense of conducting an archeological survey, while in reality actively recruiting for the Filiki Eteria. His most notable success was the initiation of Pilion armatolos Kyriakos Bastekis and Makrinitsa head kodjabashi Hatzi Rigas. Although already a member of Filiki Eteria, scholar Grigorios Konstantas reluctantly agreed to support the use of force. 
  On 7 May 1821, revolutionaries gathered at the entrance of the  Agioi Taxiarches Church in Milies, with Gazis heading the meeting. A white flag bearing five red crosses and topped with a sun was unveiled, while Gazis read a letter written by Alexander Ypsilantis. On the same day, Gazis led a group of rebels into the village of Lechonia populated mainly by Turks, 200 of them  were slain while the womenfolk were taken to the monasteries of Agios Georgios and Agios Lavrentios. They then proceeded to Efta Platania besieging its castle. Attempts to storm the castle failed as the rebels only possessed a single rusty cannon, while human wave attacks proved sanguine. On 11 May, the siege was abandoned and the rebels raided Velestino, slaughtering those who had not already left it, burning and looting their houses and crops. A second meeting (styled Boule of Thessalo–Magnesia) took place in Velestino where Gazis officially declared the beginning of the insurrection to the representatives of the 24 villages surrounding Pilion, calling for the Christians of Thessaly to rise against the Ottomans. On 15 May, Mahmud Dramali Pasha's army descended from Larissa, burning Kapurna and Kanalia. Rebels from Zagora, Makrinitsa and Volos fled in panic, many of them sought refuge in Trikeri. Dramali's arrival prompted most kodjabashis to bend the knee to the Turks. In the meantime Dramali marched on Milies with the intent to burn it, the rebels decided to defend their headquarters. The situation in the village became tense when local kodjabashi Stavrakis Morfoulis, attempted to shoot Gazis after exclaiming "Damn you, you doomed us all!". One of Gazis' comrades knocked the gun out of his hand before he was able to take a shot. Other kodjabashis tried to discredit the revolutionaries promising to act as emissaries to the Turks, in hopes that they will show mercy. Gazis and most other rebels left the village and by June the kodjabashis surrendered it to the Turks, being granted amnesty in return. Although 
caption: 1818 issue of "Hermes o Logios".
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