Konstantinos Giaboudakis

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Konstantinos "Kostis" Giaboudakis was a Cretan patriot, who blew up the gunpowder room at Arkadi Monastery.

Giaboudakis was born in Adele, Rethymno. He joined the revolt of 1866 against the Turks and was at Arkadi Monastery, on November 8 of that year, when it was besieged by 15,000 Turks.

On November 9, the monastery's defences were breached. Giaboudakis was ordered by Abbot Gabriel Marinakis to blow up the gunpowder room where the elderly, women and children had taken refuge. Giaboudakis announced his intentions and asked if anyone preferred to leave the room and take their chances. He then waited until the Turkish troops started pounding the room's door and blasted the gunpowder causing the explosion that took the lives of all the Greeks present and several hundred Turks.

Controversy

Though it is generally accepted that Giaboudakis blew up the gunpowder room, some claim that Emmanouil Skoulas was the man who actually pulled the trigger.