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Pavlos Melas (Greek: Παύλος Μελάς, Pávlos, i.e. Paul, Melás) (March 29, 1870–October 13, 1904) was an officer of the Hellenic Army, and he was among the first who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia.He was born in Marseilles, France in a family with origin from Northern Epirus
Melas, with the cooperation of his brother-in-law Ion Dragoumis, then the consul of Greece in then Ottoman occupied Monastir (now Bitola), Christos Kottas,and Germanos Karavangelis, metropolitan bishop of Kastoria, tried to raise money for the economic support of Greek struggle in Macedonia. After the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising, he decided to enter Macedonia in June, 1904 to assess the situation and to see if there is any possibility of establishing a military unit to fight the Bulgarians (VMRO) and the Ottoman Turks.
In July of 1904 (under the alias Captain Mikis Zezas), he reentered Macedonia with a small unit of men and fought against the VMRO until October 13, 1904 when he was killed after being surrounded by Ottoman forces in the village of Sta****a. The village with coordinates 40° 42' N 021° 16' E has since been renamed Melas in his honour.
After his death, Greek efforts became more intense, resulting in the interception of Bulgarian Komitadji efforts, especially in West and Central Macedonia, which were liberated by Greece after the Balkan Wars.
Originally Posted by bmp3hel
