Daskaloyiannis

Ioannis Vlachos or Ioannis Daskalakis, better known as Daskaloyiannis was a Cretan revolutionary.

Daskaloyiannis was born in Anopolis, Sfakia, Crete, some time between 1722 and 1730, to a rich family of ship owners. He was educated in Italy and continued in his father's footsteps as a ship owner, living much of his life abroad where he was influenced by the ideals of freedom.

When Alexey Orlov sailed to Greece and tried to convince the Greeks to revolt against the Ottoman yoke, Daskaloyiannis was convinced that the hour of deliverance had arrived for the Cretan people. On March 25, 1770, the feast day of the Annunciation of Theotokos, he raised the flag of revolution at Sfakia. However, the aid promised by Orlov never arrived and the Cretans were left to their own devices.

Daskaloyiannis fought with his men at Nimbros only to delay the unavoidable defeat at the hands of the superior Turkish army.

To be continued