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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;manny9655, post: 4552557, member: 112417&quot;]A 20 lepta coin of the Cretan State, which only issued coins from 1900 to 1901.&nbsp; My maternal grandmother&#039;s family had a HUGE role in the formation of the Cretan State in 1898.&nbsp; Bear with me here.&nbsp; </p><p>Eleutherios Venizelos (the leader of the Cretan revolt for independence from Turkey and later Prime Minister and President of Greece) and my maternal grandmother’s family were VERY close.&nbsp; In fact, he used to bounce my grandmother on his knee when she was a little girl!&nbsp; Bear with me here and I will relate a little bit about what my family had to do with him.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nicholas Stratigakis was my great-great grandfather.&nbsp; Around 1850, he and his brother moved from Sirikari to Plakoures, Chania.&nbsp; His brother, Gerasimos IV (Stratigakis), was a monk and became the abbot at the famous Ayia Triada Tzangaloron monastery in Chania.&nbsp; In 1860, he was elected Metropolitan of Kissamos.&nbsp; He was exiled to Athens by the Turks for his heavy involvement in the uprisings of 1866.&nbsp; When he was exiled to Athens, he took three of Nicholas’ children with him for the purpose of their education:&nbsp; George, who studied law, Marigo (Mary), who became a teacher, and Michael (my great-grandfather) who studied architecture and Byzantine music.</p><p><br /></p><p>My great-great grandparents had 8 children.&nbsp; I will only mention the ones who are most relevant to the topic.&nbsp; They were George, Emmanuel, Hariklia, and Michael Stratigakis. </p><p><br /></p><p>George was a lawyer and ran against and defeated Venizelos for Court of Appeals Judge in 1888.&nbsp; Even though they were opponents then, Venizelos became close friends with my family.&nbsp; George, along with Venizelos, headed a rebel group called the White Mountaineers, and published a newspaper called “The Voice of the Enslaved”.&nbsp; It was at this time that George began teaching Venizelos English.&nbsp; George was the most prominent and active member of the Committee for the Defense of Crete, and from Athens he oversaw (covertly) the shipment of arms, including handling the expenses, transport, and maintenance, to Venizelos and the rebels.</p><p><br /></p><p>Emmanuel was one of the initial organizers of the rebel camp at Akrotiri (1/20/1897, mentioned in the Wiki bio of Venizelos), and fought in the battle of 2/2/1897 near Korakies.&nbsp; As a member of the revolutionary committee, he signed, along with Venizelos and the other committee members, the protest of the bombing of Christians by the Great Powers (also in the Wiki bio of Venizelos) .</p><p><br /></p><p>Hariklia was, in the words of my relatives in Greece, “a very dynamic woman”.&nbsp; Space does not permit me here to tell more about her.&nbsp; At the time of the battle at the village of Prophet Elias (Akrotiri), she transported water and ammo to the rebel military camp.&nbsp; More on this battle below.</p><p><br /></p><p>Michael was my great-grandfather.&nbsp; He was an expert chanter and teacher of Byzantine music, and was a farmer and beekeeper.&nbsp; He participated in these events also, but apparently in a somewhat lesser role.</p><p><br /></p><p>After slaughters, looting, and arson by the Turks in Chania on 1/25/1897, about 250 Christians took over the areas of the villages of Agios Matheos (St. Matthew), Prophet Elias (Elijah) and Monte Vardia, thus cutting off the Akrotiri peninsula and allowing the rebels under Venizelos to attack the Turkish forces there. </p><p><br /></p><p>The deliberations in Constantinople over the Cretan question resulted in 2 proposed solutions:</p><p><br /></p><p>1)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Union with Greece, supported by the majority of Cretans and the representatives in the Cretan General Assembly;</p><p><br /></p><p>2)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Independence (autonomy), supported by the minority of Cretans, the Great Powers, and Venizelos.</p><p><br /></p><p>In January of 1898, the General Assembly (Congress) of Crete was moved from Melidoni, Milopotami to our family’s estate in Plakoures, Chania.&nbsp; On Jan. 20 of that year, the Assembly convened there (see photo)[ATTACH=full]1127206[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1127207[/ATTACH] .&nbsp; Venizelos and the autonomists had by then succeeded in changing the opinion of both the public and the Assembly to favor autonomy, because the Great Powers could not agree about union with Greece.&nbsp; Autonomy was declared and unanimously ratified; and the paperwork was signed by all parties on our family’s dining room table!&nbsp; The Assembly appointed Prince George of Greece as High Commissioner, a decision Venizelos later regretted, as the article says.&nbsp; (We knew the Prince, too—he unsuccessfully tried to sway Hariklia over to his side after he and Venizelos had their falling out.)[ATTACH=full]1127212[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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