Georgios Hadjanestis

In memoriam

Greek name: Γεώργιος Χατζανέστης [The modern transliteration of the surname is Chatzanestis, but in his lifetime and historically it was Hadjanestis or Hatzianestis.] Greek artillery and general staff officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general; convicted of high treason after an irregular court martial. Having been dismissed (as a royalist) during the First World War, in 1921 he was recalled to duty and in April 1922 given command of the Army of Thrace. The following month he was given command of the Army of Asia Minor with the rank of lieutenant general, arriving in Smyrna on 23rd May. During the Turkish advance of August 1922 he was trapped in Smyrna and replaced as commander by Lieutenant General Georgios Polymenakos. He was one of "The Six" convicted of high treason for his role in Greece's disastrous Asia Minor Campaign and executed by firing squad on 15th November 1922; Julian Calendar [28th November 1922; Gregorian Calendar]. The only serving military officer convicted, he was reduced in rank before his death. The six were executed at Goudi and summarily interred at the 1st Cemetery of Athens. Although no longer considered a traitor, in the latter stages of his life he was mentally unstable and incompetent. In 2010, Greek courts annulled the convictions due to new evidence and then also dismissed the charges for high treason for the six due to the limitation period.

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