Nikolaos Tsourouktsoglou

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Nikolaos Tsourouktsoglou
Born1861 (1861)
Smyrna, Ottoman Empire
DiedSeptember 21, 1922(1922-09-21) (aged 60)
Smyrna, Ottoman Empire

Nikolaos Tsourouktsoglou (Greek: Νικόλαος Τσουρούκτσογλου; Turkish: Nikolaki Çürükçüoğlu Efendi; Smyrna, 1861–1922),[1] was a distinguished Greek lawyer and journalist who was a political and social activist. He was a city councillor and a member of the board of governors of Smyrna.[2] He was also founder and editor of the French and Greek newspapers 'La Reforme' and 'Imerisia' in the late Ottoman Empire.[3]

Biography[edit]

Nikolaos Tsourouktsoglou was born in Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey) in 1861 to a Cappadocian Greek family originally from Kayseri in Cappadocia.[2] As a child he attended and eventually graduated from the Evangelical School of Smyrna. After graduation he studied at the University of Munich and graduated with a law degree. After graduation Nikolaos moved back to Smyrna where he eventually founded a French Language Newspaper called 'La Réforme' in 1900. In 1901 he co-founded a Greek language newspaper called "Imerisia" (Ημερησία).[3] Through his media outlets and Law background Nikolaos fought for the defence of his compatriots rights in the late Ottoman Empire.[2] He was a member of the board of governors and council of elders of Smyrna in the Vilayet of Aydin.[2]

During the Greco-Turkish War in August 1922, the Greek Military was defeated and the Turkish army entered the city of Smyrna. Tsourouktsoglou was arrested, along with other prominent Greek members of the city including the Metropolitan of Smyrna Chrysostomos Kalafatis and also Georgakis Klimanoglou.[4] The Turkish military officer Nureddin Pasha ordered the execution of Tsourouktsoglou who was beheaded.[1] Nikolaos Tsourouktsoglou's decapitated corpse was eventually discovered in Smyrna along with the corpses of other high-profile Greeks of the city.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kokkinos, Dionysios A. (1972). Historia tēs Neōteras Hellados, Volume 4. Ekdotikos Oikos Melissa. p. 1255. OCLC 838428919. Ο νομικός και δημοσιογράφος Νικόλαος Τσουρουκτσόγλου (1861–1922), ό όποιος άπεκεφαλίσθη τό 1922 κατά διαταγήν τού Στρατιωτικού Διοικητού Σμύρνης Νουρεντίν.
  2. ^ a b c d Ένωσις Σμυρναίων. "Καθαίρεσαν από τις οδοσημάνσεις το όνομα του εθνομάρτυρα Νικολάου Τσουρουκτσόγλου και δεν το αποκατέστησαν μέχρι σήμερα" (PDF). The Organization of the Association of Smyrneans. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  3. ^ a b Singer, Amy (2010). Untold Histories of the Middle East: Recovering Voices from the 19th and 20th Centuries. Routledge. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9781136926662.
  4. ^ Athanasiadēs, Titos (2002). Mikra Asia, 1919–1922 : 80 chronia pikrēs mnēmēs : apo tēn epopoiia stēn katastrophē. Apogeumatinē. p. 88. ISBN 9789608745124.
  5. ^ Spanomanōlēs, Chrēstos A. (1969). Aichmalōtoi tōn Tourkōn: Augoustos 1922-Augoistos 1923. Vivliopōleion tēs Hestias I. D. Kollarou. p. 167. OCLC 1971141. Πράγματι, ένας άλλοτε μεγαλοβιομήχανος στήν Σμύρνη, αναγνωρίζει τά πτώματα των δημογερόντων μας, Κλημάνογλου και Τσουρουκτσόγλου. Σάν αστραπή περνά από τόν νοϋν μου, ή μορφή τοϋ Χρυσοστόμου, διότι είχα πληροφορηθή δτι οί δημογέροντες αυτοί τόν εΐχον συνοδεύσει κατά τήν έπίσκεψίν του στόν Νουρεντίν.