Photos (also Fotos) Tzavelas or Tzavellas Greek: Φώτος Τζαβέλας, also Φώτος Τζαβέλλας Souliot chieftain Photos Tzavelas distinguished himself in battles against the forces of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina, in Epirus. He emerged as a great warlord and showed so much bravery that the Souliotes swore "by the sword of Photos". In December 1803, the Turk-Albanian lord occupied Souli. Many Souliots fled to Corfu, where Tzavelas served as an officer in the military corps that had been created by the Russians, in order to protect the island they then occupied. Other Souliots, many thieves, local islanders and volunteers from the mainland of Epirus had joined the body in question. In 1807, Corfu was occupied by the French. Photos Tzavelas was designated by the French as Chiliarch of their Regiment. He died in November 1809 (c. 4th-12th) from an unknown cause, claimed poisoned by Ali Pasha's agents, and was buried in the monastery of Panagia Platytera, where his tomb still exists. While he was alive, he and his wife, Despo, had four sons, Nikolas, Kitsos, Ioannis or Bakatselos and Konstantis, who lived and took part in the Greek Revolution (War of Independence). He also had a daughter Fotini, who married Gennaios Kolokotronis in 1828.
