Anastasios Picheion (1836 – March 24, 1913)

Anastasios Picheion (1836 – March 24, 1913)

From the Greek town of Ochrida, he was a Greek leader from Macedonia, a patriot, educator and Macedonian Fighter.

After finishing his studies in Athens, by 1863 he had accepted the position of being a Greek teacher in Kastoria, as well as helping to develop more Greek schools and educational facilities throughout Macedonia.

In 1867, together with several other leading Greeks of Macedonia, he formed the organisation – Εθνική Επιτροπή – which would later be renamed to – Νέα Φιλική Εταιρεία. With its stated goal being to co-ordinate and organise Greek uprisings throughout Macedonia, simultaneously with the ones happening in Crete.

He would fight in the Macedonian Revolution of 1878, as well as several smaller revolts in Macedonia over the next decade, where he would later be caught and imprisoned by the Turks, first in Monastiri, before he was then transferred to an Ottoman prison in Palestine.

With help from Greek diplomats, he managed to escape from that prison and found himself in Athens, where he was given a job as a professor at an educational institution in Athens.

It wasn’t until 1908, where Picheion made it back to Kastoria, where he lived until his death in 1913.