Panagis -or Panais- Koutalianos was born in Koutali (Ekinlik) in the sea of Marmara, (modern day Turkey) in 1847.
He was a handsome man of Herculean power. His first feat of great strength became known while he was working on a large ship as a sailor. The anchors of the ship were tangled with those of another and while 10 men couldn't untangle them, Panagis Koutalianos did the job all by himself.
According to the Greek Genocide Center, legend had it that he left Turkey to begin his career as a wrestler after he tore a Turk to pieces when the Turk had stolen his clothes while he was swimming by a river. Today Ekinlik island is inhabited by approximately 140 people. In 1915, according to one Greek source, the island was inhabited by 2,000 Greeks. The Greeks of Koutali were deported to the Asia Minor mainland in June 1915 during #theGreekGenocide.
After he left Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) he went to France where he became a student of the famous wrestling teacher Bernardt. He learned to fight and he traveled all over the world as a weight lifter and wrestler. He travelled in France, various countries of Latin America and the Unites States.
He married and stayed for many years in Buenos Aires. He was never defeated in any of the fights in America or Europe. In America he defeated many great wrestlers of the era. At competitions he wore the fur coat of a tiger which he had fought and killed. He was thereafter nicknamed the “New Hercules.” His forte was displaying his power by bending irons, and breaking chains and rocks.
One of his showmanship accomplishments was to carry two canons, one on his right shoulder and one on his left side, while he fired them himself and stayed unmoved in place. He died in 1916.
His son Dimitrios Makris Koutalianos and grandson George Makris Koutalianos followed in the family’s wrestling legacy. The square outside the Maritime and Sponge museum of Nea Kouteli, in the island of Lemnos, proudly displays his bust. He is a legend and many posters and sketches showing him fighting have been saved. You can find some posters, sketches and busts below.
Also here is more information in Greek and an archival video https://www.mixanitouxronou.gr/sidera-masai-o.../
And a song by Giannis Kalatzis immortalizing his memory:
ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ ΚΑΛΑΤΖΗΣ - Ο Κουταλιανός
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