Antonios Zois (1869 – April 1941)

Antonios Zois (1869 – April 1941)

Βorn in the Greek town of Monastiri in 1869, he was a Chieftain during the Macedonian Struggle (1904-08) and the Balkan Wars (1912-13).

He was inspired to join the Macedonian Struggle after seeing the Bulgarian Komitatzides slaughtering Greek civilians, teachers and priests and witnessing the burning down of Greek schools and monasteries. The killing of Theodoros Modis by the Bulgarians, a leading figure in the Greek community of Monastiri also appears to be a major turning point for Zois.

He came together with the other leaders of the Greek community in Monastiri, to form his own band of local Greeks to fight against the Bulgarians, the Turks and for the Liberation of Macedonia.

His band of fighters were active in areas of north-western Macedonia around Monastiri and Florina. It was said that the Bulgarian Komitatzides were struck with fear if they knew that Zois and his band were close by.

He also participated in the Greek Volunteer Corps during the First Balkan War. After the end of the Balkan Wars, his town Monastiri, was annexed by the Serbs and so he had to be re-settled in Florina, where after the War he worked as a supervisor for education.

During the Greco-Italian War of 1940, being old and ill, Zois had to be assisted and evacuated as Florina was being bombed by the Italian Air Force.

In April 1941 upon hearing that the Germans had captured Florina he grabbed a revolver, one he had kept from the times of the Macedonian Struggle and shot himself.