On this day in 1821, Alexandros Ypsilantis encourages Greeks to revolt against the Ottomans

Greek military commander and national hero Alexandros Ypsilantis (Αλέξανδρος Υψηλάντης) was born on December 12, 1792, and passed away on January 31, 1828.

With family roots from Trapezounta in Pontos, he was born in Constantinople, became the Leader of Filiki Etaireia and was a Major General during the Greek War of Independence.

After accepting the post as Leader of Filiki Eteria in 1820 in Bucharest, he devised the general plan of attack for the Greek Revolution, with the participation of rebel captains from mainland Greece.

Ypsilantis began his campaign against the Ottomans in Wallachia and Moldavia, but from the outset, he and his forces were up against it due to various factors (broken promises, poor planning, betrayal).

On this day in 1821, he issued a proclamation to the Greeks of Moldavia entitled “Battle for Faith and Homeland.”

He encouraged the Greeks to revolt, promising that foreign powers would aid them.

Following the defeat at the battle of Dragatsani in June 1821, he sought refuge in Vienna but was instead imprisoned by the Austrians. He was kept in confinement for seven years until he was released at the insistence of the emperor Nicholas I of Russia.

After his release, he retired to Vienna, where he died in extreme poverty and misery on 29 January 1828.

After his death in Vienna in 1828, per his wishes, his heart was removed from his body and sent to Athens.

Some 136 years after his death, his bones were brought to Greece in 1964 and placed in his sarcophagus in Πεδίον Άρεως, one of the largest public parks in Greece.

Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, in the United States, is named in honour of him. Later the city of Ypsilanti, located within the township, was named after his brother Demetrius.

*More on GCT: What Greeks believe about the Greek War of Independence