Quick Facts
Biography
Panos Bitzilis (Greek: Πάνος Μπιτζίλης) was an 18th-century General Consul of Russia in Albania and Himara
Panos Bitsilis came from Himara, modern Albania, then Ottoman Empire, from a Greek family background. Bitsilis clan was among the notable Greek clans that provided diplomats to the Russian Empire in the 18th century. Moreover, it also provided several officers to the Regimento Cimarioto (Himariote regiment) of the Venetian army as well as for the Albanskoe Volsko and the Odesskii Grecheskii Divizion Russian army.
Being an influential personality, he became the Russian consul in Albania and Himara, in the 1780s. During the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774) together with Loudovikos Sotiris from Lefkada, became the revolutionary leaders of an uprising in Epirus against the Ottomans. He was also probably member of the Greek patriotic organization Filiki Eteria.