imported>Kajmer05: Fixing the infobox

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Fixing the infobox

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{{short description|Hellenic Army general}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Konstantinos Sapountzakis
| native_name = Κωνσταντίνος Σαπουντζάκης
| image = Sapountzakis.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Konstantinos Sapountzakis at [[Filippiada]] {{circa}} 1913
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{circa}} 1846
| birth_place = [[Rethymno]], [[Crete]], [[Ottoman Empire]] (now [[Greece]])
| death_date = {{circa}} {{Death year and age|1931|1846}}
| death_place = [[Athens]], [[Second Hellenic Republic]]
| placeofburial =
| allegiance = {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} [[Kingdom of Greece]]
| branch = {{army|Greece}}
| serviceyears = 1865–1913
| rank = [[File:GR-Army-OF8-1912.svg|15px]] [[Lieutenant General]]
| unit =
| commands = [[Hellenic Army General Staff|Army General Command]]<br>[[Army of Epirus]]<br>[[6th Infantry Division (Greece)|6th Infantry Division]]<br>[[8th Infantry Division (Greece)|8th Infantry Division]]
| battles = {{tree list}}
*[[Cretan Revolt (1866–69)]]
*[[Greco-Turkish War (1897)]]
*[[Balkan Wars]]
**[[First Balkan War]]
***[[Battle of Pente Pigadia]]
***[[Battle of Bizani]]
**[[Second Balkan War]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards = [[File:GRE Order Redeemer 2Class.svg|30px]] Grand Commander of the [[Order of the Redeemer]]
| alma_mater = [[Hellenic Military Academy]]
| relations = [[Vasileios Sapountzakis]] (Father)
| laterwork = [[Aide-de-Camp]] to [[Constantine I|Crown Prince Constantine]]<br>Director of the Army Pension Fund
}}
'''Konstantinos Sapountzakis''' ({{langx|el|Κωνσταντίνος Σαπουντζάκης}}; {{circa}} 1846–1931) was a [[Hellenic Army]] officer. He is notable as the first head of the [[Hellenic Army General Staff]] and as the first commander of the [[Army of Epirus]] during the [[First Balkan War]].

== Early career ==
The son of Lieutenant General [[Vasileios Sapountzakis]], he was born in [[Nafplio]] in about 1846. He entered the [[Hellenic Army Academy]], graduating as an artillery adjutant in 1865.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}}<ref name="enc">{{cite book | title = Μεγάλη Στρατιωτική και Ναυτική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία. Τόμος Ε′: Νάβα – Σαρακηνοί |trans-title=Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia. Volume V | location = Athens | year = 1930 | page = 654 | language=el}}</ref> He became a second lieutenant on 9 May 1867, a lieutenant in 1873, captain II class in 1878, captain I class in 1880, major in 1882, lieutenant colonel in 1890, and full colonel in 1896.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} In 1867 he returned to Crete and with his father and fought in the ongoing [[Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)|Cretan uprising]]. Following the failure of the revolt, he was sent for studies abroad, in Germany, Britain and France.

He was appointed professor of military technology at the Army Academy, as well as tutor and [[aide de camp]] to [[Constantine I of Greece|Crown Prince Constantine]].{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} At the outbreak of the [[Greco-Turkish War of 1897]], with the rank of colonel, he assumed the duties of chief of staff to the Crown Prince, who exercised the overall command of the main Greek field force, the [[Army of Thessaly]].{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} Badly trained and led, the Greek Army was defeated and forced to retreat. Sapountzakis was subsequently dismissed from his duties.

== Chief of the General Staff and Balkan Wars ==
[[File:Konstantinos Sapountzakis.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Photograph of Lt Gen Sapountzakis]]

In 1899, he was named head of the Personnel Department in the Ministry for Military Affairs, and in 1901 he was made chief of staff of the Army General Command, which became the [[Hellenic Army General Staff]] in 1904, with Sapountzakis its first head.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} From this position, he supervised the reorganization of the Army under the [[Georgios Theotokis]] cabinets.

[[File:Sapountzakis HPIM6083.jpg|thumb|200px|Marble bust of Lt Gen Sapountzakis at the Emin Aga inn, [[Ioannina]].|left]]

Promoted to major General in 1909, in 1910–12 he was Chief of the Army Staff Service of the Ministry for Military Affairs.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} On 9 April 1912 he was appointed prospective commander-in-chief of the Army of Thessaly in wartime, as well as chairman of the Revisionary Military Tribunal. In the same year he was promoted to lieutenant general.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} With the outbreak of the [[First Balkan War]], on 5 October 1912, he was placed in charge of the [[Army of Epirus]], a post he held until 11 February 1913.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} The Army of Epirus was by far the smaller of the two field armies fielded by Greece and effectively comprised a small infantry division, with 8,197 men and 24 guns. Faced with superior Ottoman forces (some 15,000 men with 32 guns of the 23rd Regular and 23rd Reserve Divisions) as well as the strongly fortified position of [[Bizani]], which guarded the southern approaches to [[Ioannina]], its mission was entirely secondary to the main Army of Thessaly, led again by Crown Prince Constantine.

Nevertheless, the Greeks advanced and took [[Preveza]] on 21 October 1912, and repulsed an Ottoman counteroffensive in the [[Battle of Pente Pigadia]] on 24–30 October. Operations subsequently stalled as both sides awaited reinforcements. With the arrival of the [[2nd Infantry Division (Greece)|2nd Infantry Division]], the Greeks resumed their offensive towards Ioannina on 12 December. Despite early success and the capture of Aetorrachi ridge, the Greek assault faltered against the guns of Bizani and successive Ottoman counter-offensives. The offensive was over by December 10, and operations degenerated into positional warfare. As more forces were being pulled from [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] towards Epirus, Crown Prince Constantine came to assume command in Epirus in January 1913, while Sapountzakis was relegated to command a detachment comprising the [[6th Infantry Division (Greece)|6th]] and [[8th Infantry Division (Greece)|8th]] Infantry Divisions. From this post he participated in the final [[Battle of Bizani|capture]] of Bizani and Ioannina on 22 February 1913.

Following the fall of Ioannina, Sapountzakis retired from the Army.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}} He was appointed director of the Army Pension Fund in 1926–29, and died in 1931. He was married but had no children.{{sfn|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001|p=135}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | title=Συνοπτική Ιστορία του Γενικού Επιτελείου Στρατού 1901–2001 | language=el | trans-title=A Concise History of the Hellenic Army General Staff 1901–2001 | year=2001 | publisher=Hellenic Army History Directorate | location = Athens | isbn=960-7897-44-7 | ref={{harvid|Συνοπτική Ιστορία του ΓΕΣ, 2001}} }}

{{Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapountzakis, Konstantinos}}
[[Category:1840s births]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Nafplion]]
[[Category:19th-century Greek people]]
[[Category:20th-century Greek people]]
[[Category:Hellenic Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff]]
[[Category:Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897)]]
[[Category:Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars]]

Konstantinos Sapountzakis - Revision history

imported>Kajmer05: Fixing the infobox