He completed his schooling in Zakynthos with Panos Kolokotronis, son of Theodoros, a circumstance that would prove poignant in both Tertestis’ and Theodoros’ lives many years later.
Following this, he left for Italy to further his studies, but at the outbreak of the 1821 Revolution, he hurried back to the Peloponnese to join in the fighting, where he fell ill and retreated to the island of Kalamos.
Back in Zakynthos, he was acquainted with and became friends with Dionysios Solomos, Greece’s national poet, famous for writing the future Greek National Anthem.
He returned to the front line to fight, but he also spent more time as a tutor and teacher, particularly to the children of the fighters.
Following the Revolution, he was appointed Professor of General and Greek History in Nafplio, and in 1833, Tertsetis became a judge.
In 1834, he was a member of the panel of judges in the capital, Nafplio, presiding over the bogus charges brought by the foreign Monarch of Greece to charge two heroes of the Greek Revolution, Theodoros Kolokotronis and Dimitris Plapoutas, with treason.
This would carry the sentence of death.
Tertsetis and fellow judge Anastasios Polyzoidis both refused to sign the document condemning the two men.
They were later acquitted and pardoned in 1835.
Tertsetis later represented Zakynthos in Parliament and also wrote a biography on Theodoros Kolokotronis, based on his memoirs.