17 Facts About Kottas

Kottas Christou or Kote Hristov, known simply as Kottas or Kote, and often referred to as Konstantinos Christou, was a Slavophone revolutionary chieftain in Western Macedonia during the Macedonian Struggle.

Kottas was first associated with the pro-Bulgarian Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and afterwards with the pro-Greek irregular Hellenic Macedonian Committee.

Kottas was captured by the Ottomans, convicted of robbery and hanged in Monastir in 1905.

Kottas Christou was born in the Patriarchatist village of Roulia c and was a Orthodox Christian.

Kottas was a monolingual Slavophone, who spoke Bulgarian or Macedonian.

Disputes with the organisation over instructions, methods and discipline, Kottas joined the Greek side in 1902.

The Greek bishop of Kastoria, Germanos Karavangelis played an important role in recruiting Kottas to join the Greek side after discussions with him about Bulgarian irredentism.

At the time of the Ilinden Uprising, when all old wrongs were forgiven in the name of the common struggle, Kottas was received back by the IMRO at the insistence of Lazar Poptraykov, the same voivode he set out to kill.

Kottas's behavior toward the Ottomans was an obstruction to the Greek tactic, as it was often necessary to cooperate with the Ottoman officers against the Bulgarian enemy.

In early 1904 Kottas accompanied by four Greek Army officers assembled several local notables at Gavros where he gave a patriotic speech in his language encouraging the fight for the Greek cause.

At the advice of Karavangelis, Kottas sent his two older sons to study in Athens, three other children were given to relatives and his wife and a daughter continued to live in the village.

The British consul pressed Hilmi Pasha to act, and eventually, Kottas was arrested by the Ottomans.

Kottas hid in an outdoor oven and after his gun went off the Ottomans found and arrested him.

Kottas's wife gathered all the children and fled to Kastoria.

The loss of Kottas was detrimental to the Greek movement.

Kottas was married to Zoi Christou, and together they had 8 children; Sofia Christou, Dimitrios Christou, Sotirios Christou, Vasiliki Christou, Christos Christou, Lazaros Christou, Paschalini Christou and Evangelos Christou.

Kottas is revered as a national hero in Greece, and considered a Bulgarophone Greek and the first fighter in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia, while he is considered a predatory warlord by Slavic Macedonians and a renegade Grecoman in Bulgaria.