Saint Kosmas Aitolos

Saint Kosmas Aitolos (1714 - 1779) was a monk in the Greek Orthodox Church. He was born in the Greek village Mega Dendron in the region of Aetolia (present day Aitoloakarnania prefecture. He studied Greek and Theology before becoming a monk after a trip to Mount Athos where he also attended the local Theological Academy. Afterwards, he traveled through Western and Northern Greece urging Orthodox Christians to establish schools. Over sixteen years, he established over 100 schools, although he rejected the use of the Koutsovlach and Albanian languages. According to his beliefs, Orthodox Christians should only speak Greek because Greek is the "language of the Church".

After the Greek revolution of 1770 in the Peloponnese (which was provoked by the Orlov brothers with the support of Russia), the Turkish rulers suspected him of being a Russian agent. As a result he was seized and executed on August 24, 1779 in the city of Berat, Albania.

Father Kosmas Aitolos was officially proclaimed Saint by the Orthodox Church of Constantinople on April 20, 1961. The memory of isapostolos Kosmas Aitolos is honoured on August 24, the date of his martyrdom.