Charalambos Boufidis

Kapetan (Chieftain) Charalambos Boufidis
Charalambos Boufidis seated second from the left.
Native name	Χαράλαμπος Μπουφίδης
Born	c. 1880s Kolešino, Salonika Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Republic of North Macedonia)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch	HMC
Battles/wars	Macedonian Struggle
Relations	Pantelis Papaioannou (cousin)

Charalambos Boufidis (Greek: Χαράλαμπος Μπουφίδης) or else known as Kapetan Fourtounas (Καπετάν Φουρτούνας), was a significant Greek chieftain of the Macedonian Struggle.

Biography[]

He was born in the 1880s in Kolešino of Strumica, then part of the Ottoman Empire (now Republic of North Macedonia). He was the first cousin of fellow chieftain Pantelis Papaioannou. When his cousin was killed in 1907, he took over the command of his armed group. He also recruited young people from the surrounding villages. He decided to avenge the death of his cousin, leaving his wife and child in Kolešino.

Armed action[]

He acted with his body in the regions of Strumica, Petrich and in the Belasica mountain range. His armed group was strengthened by uniting with the group of the chieftain Dimitrios Tsitsimis, which consisted of local Greeks of Strumica region. Together they managed to oppose a strong resistance to the action of the Bulgarian komitadjis. With their actions they also managed to gain full control of the Belasica mountain range. At the beginning of January 1908, Boufidis avenged the death of his cousin by executing Peche, who had betrayed Papaioannou, on the latter's tomb in Kolešino. The same year, Boufidis cooperated with the Hellenic Army officer , who guided the rebels of the Strumica region.

Sources[]

• D. Papakonstantinou, Υπόμνημα περί της καταστάσεως του ελληνισμού εν τη επαρχία Στρωμνίτσης, Athens, 1882.
• Konstantinos A. Vakalopoulos, Ο ένοπλος αγώνας στη Μακεδονία 1904-1908, publications Ηρόδοτος, Thessaloniki, 1999, p. 287, 324