Paschalis Tsiagas (1873 – February 24, 1907)

Paschalis Tsiagas (1873 – February 24, 1907)

From the village of Livadochori, west of Serres in Macedonia, Tsiagas was a Priest, who became a Captain during the Macedonian Struggle (1904-08).

The son of a Macedonian Fighter Andreas, he was ordained as a Priest and served in Serres, under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Because of his loyalty to the Greek Orthodox Church, he was a constant target and a victim of several attacks from the Bulgarian Exarchate, who tried to have him assassinated on numerous occasions. The Bulgarian Exarchists, for decades were backed by the imperialist Russians, who masterminded Pan-Slavism in the Balkans and were behind the agenda to repress the Greeks of the region and the Greek Orthodox Church as a whole.

In October 1906, a group of Bulgarian Komitatzides attacked Tsiagas’ family home. Killing his father, seriously injuring his mother and other members of his family, as well as killing his wife.

After this incident Tsiagas, decided to resign from the priesthood, take up arms and join the fight. Papapaschalis as he was also known, used the alias of Kapetan Androutsos (named after the Greek Revolutionary hero of 1821) and formed his own fighting force to defend himself and his family, doing battle in the region of Serres.

In February of 1907, Tsiagas and his band became encircled and he was killed in the skirmishes, his lifeless body was even desecrated and abused by the Bulgarians after his death. He was the first Priest to be killed in action.

His young son at the time Nikolaos, would go on to become Major General in the Greek Army.