User:Tsapisqt/sandbox/Christos Kapsalis

Christos Kapsalis (1751-1826) was a prominent Greek and warrior of Missolonghi.

Biography
Christos Kapsalis came from an old family of Missologhi and was a nobleman during the period of Ottoman rule. He ceded all his property for the fight. He gave one of his houses to Lord Byron when he went to Missolonghi to stay throughout the siege. He also participated in the repair of the bastions as well as in the empowerment of the besieged. In fact, his house was a warehouse for gunpowder and ammunition.

On April 8th 1826, when the Exodus was decided, the elder Kapsalis was unable to participate due to his age and preferred to die in the ruins of his homeland. On the eve of the Exodus, he entered the city and gathered a large part of the population who could not follow the heroic guard. He gathered a lot of women, children, the sick, the wounded, the elderly, those exhausted from hunger and disease, and the disabled who could not take part in the mass breakout. They were almost 400 people. A few hours earlier, he had buried his wife who died of hardships and exhaustion. He occupied the large gunpowder depot under Botsaris's bastion, which was full of explosives. When the gunpowder depot was filled with the besieged, he closed the door and put the younger girls at the windows, so that the enemies could see them and gather. The inmates realize that these are their final moments and sing mournful songs. In the morning, when the Turks invaded the city, Kapsalis blew up the gunpowder depot along with all those present and a large number of Turkish enemies.

This act was praised by both Greek and foreign poets. A bust of Kapsalis has been erected in the Garden of Heroes in Missolonghi since 1926. During the Centenary of National Independence celebration, the municipality of Missolonghi cut gold, silver and bronze commemorative medals which depicted the explosion on one side and the following engraving on the other: "Missolonghi on the way to Christos Kapsalis’ holocaust 1826-1930". Every year, on Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, there are anniversary celebrations in the memory of the heroic exit of the Besieged with a representation of the Εxit and the explosion of his house.