page_title: Michail Komninos Afentoulief
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Michail Komninos Afentoulief / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Seal of Michael Afendulief (1769-1855)- Appointed as leader of Greek Revolution on island of Creta 1822-1823
context_page_description: Michail Komneinos Afentoulief or Afentoulis was a Greek who lived in Russia and served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army. He is best known for his participation in the Greek Revolution and his activities on the island of Crete during the period 1822–23.
context_section_description: Michail Komninos was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1769. He attended the Military School of St. Petersburg and reached the rank of Major  in the Russian army.
  Following the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, he came to Greece, following Alexandros Kantakouzinos. In the summer of 1821, along with Kantakouzinos, he went to Monemvasia upon the orders of Dimitrios Ypsilantis. There, Cretan rebels proposed to Kantakouzinos to take up the leadership of the revolution in Crete. After his refusal, Ypsilantis appointed Afentoulief instead. He arrived at Sfakia on 25 October 1821 (according to Spyridon Trikoupis) or in the beginning of November (according to Kritoulidis, Filimonas and Orlandos) on board the ship of Ioannis Vlachos, a citizen of the Ionian Islands, accompanied by Cretan soldiers. He also brought a small amount of food and ammunition to the island. 
  His first act was the convening of a general assembly of the local military and political leadership. The nickname of "Afentoulis" was given to him by the Cretans.
caption: Afentoulief's seal
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