Kanares (or Kanaris), Konstantinos (1790–1877)

Greek revolutionary who carried out many daring naval actions during the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s. In 1822, he used a fire-ship to blow up the flagship of the commander of the Ottoman fleet off the island of Chios, killing 2,000 Turkish sailors. He repeated this feat at Tenedos in the same year, and did further damage to the Turkish and Egyptian fleets threatening Crete in 1824–25. Kanares later served as premier under King George I of Greece from 1862.

Kanares was born on the island of Ipsara. After independence was won, he was engaged in the struggle to depose the despotic King Otto I from the Greek throne in 1862, and was appointed premier to the new king.