Alexandros Kontoulis Alexandros Kontoulis ( , 1858 – 1933 ) was a Greek Army officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General . He was among the driving minds behind the Macedonian Struggle and was involved in the Albanian national movement , with the " nom de guerre " of Kapetan Skourtis ( Καπετάν Σκούρτης ) . Kontoulis fought with distinction in the Greco - Turkish War of 1897 and the First Balkan War , where he was heavily wounded . In the Greco - Turkish War of 1919 – 1922 , he commanded the I Army Corps on the southern sector of the Greek front from February 1921 to June 1922 . After his retirement , he served as ambassador to Albania . Early life and career . Alexandros Kontoulis was born in Eleusis on or . His family were Arvanites , attested in the region around Elefsina since the turn of the 19th century . At the age of 20 , he participated as a volunteer in the failed uprising in Epirus against the Ottoman Empire . Kontoulis and many of the Greek volunteers were arrested and sentenced to death by the Ottomans , but eventually pardoned at the intercession of the British government . Released from Ottoman captivity , on 17 July 1880 he enlisted in the Greek Army . He entered the NCO School in 1833 and graduated on 22 September 1885 ( O . S . ) as a 2nd Lieutenant of the Infantry . In 1886 , he fought in the clashes between Greek and Ottoman troops on their frontier in Thessaly . After that , he was included in the Austrian military geographical training mission that was sent to Greece to help found the Greek Amy ' s geographical service . Promoted to Lieutenant on 26 May 1895 ( O . S . ) , during the Greco - Turkish War of 1897 , Kontoulis distinguished himself at the Battle of Velestino , where his commanding officer , Colonel Konstantinos Smolenskis , requested his promotion and the award of the Order of the Redeemer for exceptional bravery . Macedonian Struggle and Albania . Kontoulis was promoted to Captain on 24 March 1899 ( O . S . ) . At the same time , along with Pavlos Melas , he became a leading member in the secret nationalistic society , the " Ethniki Etaireia " , and after the society ' s dissolution in 1900 , in the aftermath of the defeat of the 1897 war , he served for ten years as the chairman of the Panhellenic Shooting Society , which largely succeeded the former in its activities . Due to his own Arvanite origin and association with the Greek nationalistic circles of Athens , Kontoulis was deeply interested in the rising Albanian nationalism and quest for independence , and maintained contacts with the Albanian leader Ismail Qemali . From 1903 , however , his contacts with Melas and Ion Dragoumis led him to focus on the Macedonian Question . After contacts with the bishop of Kastoria , Germanos Karavangelis , Kontoulis became an ardent supporter of sending of armed bands to Ottoman - ruled Macedonia to counter the pro - Bulgarian " armed propaganda " of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( IMRO ) . At the same time , he took over as foster father the care of several children of pro - Greek fighters in Macedonia , including the sons of Konstantinos Christou ( " Kapetan Kottas " ) , whose biography he later wrote . Along with Melas and Captains Anastasios Papoulas and Georgios Kolokotronis , Kontoulis ( with the " nom de guerre " of Kapetan Skourtis ) was one of the four officers sent by the Greek government in early March 1904 to reconnoitre the situation in Macedonia and lay the groundwork for the subsequent " Macedonian Struggle " by Greek armed bands against their Bulgarian rivals . After his return to Greece , he was promoted to Major on 15 October 1908 ( O . S . ) and Lt . Colonel on 6 July 1911 ( O . S . ) . During this time , Kontoulis kept up his contacts with Ismail Qemali , acting as his intermediary with the Greek government . When the Albanian rebellion at Malësia broke out in 1911 , Kontoulis , once again under his old " nom - de - guerre " of " Skourtis " , went to Scodra and the Montenegrin capital Cetinje , urging the Christians of the region to defect from the Ottoman army and likewise press for concessions to the religious and national minorities from the Ottoman government . Qemali also signed to a proposal by Kontoulis and Dragoumis for an " Eastern Federation " of the nations of the Ottoman Balkans . Balkan Wars and Asia Minor . During the subsequent Balkan Wars , Kontoulis commanded an independent Evzone detachment in the Army of Epirus . He distinguished himself during the bloody battle for Aetorrachi heights , when he continued fighting despite being wounded . During the offensive against the Bizani fortress on 3 December 1912 , however , he was heavily wounded and hospitalized . After convalescing , he was appointed military governor of Korytsa in Northern Epirus . He was promoted to full Colonel on 21 May 1913 ( O . S . ) . During World War I and the National Schism , Kontoulis remained loyal to King Constantine I , and fought in the " Noemvriana " against the French . He was promoted to Major General on 21 May 1917 ( O . S . ) . After the ousting of Constantine in June 1917 , like many royalist soldiers , Kontoulis was sidelined , and returned to active service only after the royalist electoral victory in November 1920 against Eleftherios Venizelos . By that time , Greece was embroiled in the Greco - Turkish War of 1919 – 1922 against Kemal Atatürk ' s Ankara - based Turkish nationalist movement . In early 1921 , Kontoulis replaced the Venizelist general Konstantinos Nider in command of I Army Corps . During the March 1921 offensive , he was successful in breaking through the Turkish lines at Dumlupınar and capturing Afyonkarahisar . The defeat of III Army Corps in the northern sector of the offensive ( First Battle of İnönü ) forced him to withdraw back to the Dumlupınar lines . There he repulsed repeated Turkish assaults on 26 – 29 March ( O . S . ) . Kontoulis led the I Corps again with success during the Greek summer offensive , during the subsequent march through the salt desert around Lake Tuz towards Ankara , and in the decisive Battle of the Sakarya and the subsequent Greek retreat . He was named Lt . General on 6 October 1921 ( O . S . ) , and in May 1922 , he was replaced as commander by Lt . General Nikolaos Trikoupis , returning to Greece , where he went into retirement on 24 April 1923 ( O . S . ) . Retirement , ambassador to Albania and death . Unlike many military officers , Kontoulis refused to be drawn into the political turmoil that engulfed the country following the disastrous defeat of the Greek Army by the Turks in August 1922 . After his retirement , he was offered the position of ambassador to Albania , a position which he initially declined but eventually accepted in 1925 and held until 1926 . During his retirement he lived in Piraeus , he put together a considerable personal archive , and was engaged a chairman in the editorial committee that published the " Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia " in 1929 – 1930 . He died on 22 August 1933 .