Michail Komneinos Afentoulief orAfentoulis (Greek:Μιχαήλ Κομνηνός Αφεντούλιεφ/Αφεντούλης) was aGreek who lived inRussia and served as an officer in theImperial Russian Army. He is best known for his participation in theGreek Revolution and his activities on the island ofCrete during the period 1822–23.^[1]

Michail Komninos was born inNizhny Novgorod in 1769. He attended the Military School of St. Petersburg and reached the rank ofMajor in the Russian army.

Following the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence in 1821, he came to Greece, following Alexandros Kantakouzinos. In the summer of 1821, along with Kantakouzinos, he went toMonemvasia upon the orders ofDimitrios Ypsilantis. There, Cretan rebels proposed to Kantakouzinos to take up the leadership of the revolution in Crete. After his refusal, Ypsilantis appointed Afentoulief instead. He arrived atSfakia on 25 October 1821 (according toSpyridon Trikoupis) or in the beginning of November (according to Kritoulidis, Filimonas andOrlandos) on board the ship of Ioannis Vlachos, a citizen of theIonian Islands, accompanied by Cretan soldiers. He also brought a small amount of food and ammunition to the island.

His first act was the convening of a general assembly of the local military and political leadership.^[1][2] The nickname of "Afentoulis" was given to him by the Cretans.

Historians differ in their assessment of Afentoulief's tenure in Crete. Some hold that he was a capable and earnest soldier and administrator, but unable to adapt himself to the circumstances of Crete. Others hold that his demeanour was characterized by conceit, imperiousness and ineffectiveness and that he ignored completely the mentality of the Cretans. It is also alleged that he neglected to expand the revolt across Crete, instead focusing on trading from Sfakia. His administrative establishments failed due to lack of knowledge of the island, while his award of ranks to the military leaders led to personal rivalries and enmities. Very soon, he began to be viewed with mistrust by the local war leaders.^[2]

Dissatisfaction with him increased after his failure in winning the battles of May 1822. A few months later, realizing how critical the situation was, he resigned, proposing to be sent back to thePeloponnese to ask for help. The Cretan administrative council accepted his resignation.

In February 1823, Afentoulief left Crete and was succeeded byNeofytos Oikonomou as governor of Crete. At the end of his life he stayed at Florence. He died on 9/21 June 1855 at the age of 86 and was buried in the cemetery of the Greek community inLivorno.^[3]

• Christopoulos, Georgios A. & Bastias, Ioannis K., eds. (1975).Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους, Τόμος ΙΒ΄: Η Ελληνική Επανάσταση (1821 - 1832) [History of the Greek Nation, Volume XII: The Greek Revolution (1821 - 1832)] (in Greek). Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon.ISBN 978-960-213-108-4.
• Σοφία Μπελόκα."Μιχαήλ Κομνηνός Αφεντούλιεφ ή Αφεντούλης"(PDF). Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο, Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Ιστορίας. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 21, 2014. RetrievedMarch 19, 2015.

• 1769 births
• 1855 deaths
• People from the Russian Empire of Greek descent
• Military personnel from Nizhny Novgorod
• Greek people of the Greek War of Independence
• Imperial Russian Army personnel

• Articles containing Greek-language text
• CS1 uses Greek-language script (el)
• CS1 Greek-language sources (el)