Alexandros Kontoulis

Alexandros Kontoulis (, 1859–1933) was a Greek military officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the Hellenic Army. He was among the driving minds behind the Macedonian Struggle and was involved in the Albanian national movement, with the nom de guerre of Kapetan Skourtis (Καπετάν Σκούρτης). Kontoulis fought with distinction in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the First Balkan War, where he was heavily wounded. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, he commanded the I Army Corps on the southern sector of the Greek front from February 1921 to June 1922. After his retirement, he served as ambassador to Albania.

Early life and career Alexandros Kontoulis was born in Eleusis on or . At the age of 20, he participated as a volunteer in the failed uprising in Epirus against the Ottoman Empire. Kontoulis and many of the Greek volunteers were arrested and sentenced to death by the Ottomans, but eventually pardoned at the intercession of the British government.

From 1903, however, his contacts with Melas and Ion Dragoumis led him to focus on the Macedonian Question. After contacts with the bishop of Kastoria, Germanos Karavangelis, Kontoulis became an ardent supporter of sending of armed bands to Ottoman-ruled Macedonia to counter the pro-Bulgarian "armed propaganda" of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). At the same time, he took over as foster father the care of several children of pro-Greek fighters in Macedonia, including the sons of Konstantinos Christou (Kapetan Kottas), whose biography he later wrote. Along with Melas and Captains Anastasios Papoulas and Georgios Kolokotronis, Kontoulis (with the nom de guerre of Kapetan Skourtis) was one of the four officers sent by the Greek government in early March 1904 to reconnoitre the situation in Macedonia and lay the groundwork for the subsequent "Macedonian Struggle" by Greek armed bands against their Bulgarian rivals.

After his return to Greece, he was promoted to major on 15 October 1908 and lieutenant colonel on 6 July 1911.

Balkan Wars and Asia Minor

During the subsequent Balkan Wars, Kontoulis commanded an independent Evzone detachment in the Army of Epirus. He distinguished himself during the bloody battle for Aetorrachi heights, when he continued fighting despite being wounded. During the offensive against the Bizani fortress on 3 December 1912, however, he was heavily wounded and hospitalized. After convalescing, he was appointed military governor of Korytsa in Northern Epirus. Kontoulis led the I Corps again with success during the Greek summer offensive, during the subsequent march through the salt desert around Lake Tuz towards Ankara, and in the decisive Battle of the Sakarya and the subsequent Greek retreat. He was named Lt. General on 6 October 1921, and in May 1922, he was replaced as commander by Lt. General Nikolaos Trikoupis, returning to Greece, where he went into retirement on 24 April 1923.