Stefanos E. Karamperis

Major General Stefanos Karabéris was born in Kleisoreia (a small mountainous village in the Voio region of Kozani Prefecture), which today is a municipal district of the Tsotyli Municipality, on September 6, 1921. He entered the Hellenic Military Academy in 1939 and graduated on November 9, 1940, as a Cadet Warrant Officer, due to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War. After a brief training period, he was deployed to the Korçë sector of the Greco-Albanian Front. He participated in several battles as an Infantry Platoon Leader during the operations of March - April 1941. Following the German invasion and the collapse of the front, he joined the guerrilla groups of the "Panhellenic Liberation Organization" or P.A.O., with which he operated in the regions of Voio, Paiko, Vermio, Pieria, and Chalkidiki from October 1941 until October 1943, when he escaped to the Middle East. Joining the Sacred Band, he participated from January 1944 to May 1945 in most operations for the liberation of the Eastern Aegean and Dodecanese islands. Returning to Greece, he was assigned to the newly established Signal Corps and participated in the operations of the 1946-49 period against the Communist insurgents (K/S) in the regions of Thessaly, Epirus (Gramos), and Western Macedonia (Vitsi). For his military actions, he was honored with the Gold Cross of the Order of King George I with swords, three War Crosses of the Third Class, five Medals of Outstanding Acts, and the commemorative medals of the wars of 1940-41, 1941-45, and the Sacred Band. After the defeat of the K/S and the end of the war, he served in various Units, Services, and Staffs of the Hellenic Army and at the NATO Headquarters in Izmir, advancing to the rank of Major General, with which he retired at his request on November 25, 1973, while serving as the Commander of the VI Infantry Division. During his active service, he was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Phoenix and the Military Merit Medals of the First, Second, and Third Class. Serving as the Director of the 2nd Staff Office of the Army General Staff on April 21, 1967, he was one of the key figures of the Revolution, and on December 13 of the same year, he played a major role in suppressing the Royal coup attempt in progress. He resigned from the ranks of the Army, unable to overturn the situation shaped by the Ioannidis movement on November 25, 1973. On February 8, 1975, he was imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years for his participation in the Revolution. He was released on January 11, 1990, at the age of 69, having served approximately 15 years of a total sentence of 20 years (an additional 5 years for another case related to the Revolution) for health reasons and in accordance with a conditional release provision after completing two-thirds of the total sentence. He passed away on November 25, 2008.