Michael Drakos Soutzos

Michael Drakos Soutzos, (1730 – 1803) was a Prince of Moldavia between 1792 and 1795. A member of the Soutzos family of Phanariotes (descended from the Drakos family), he was the grandfather of Michael Soutzos, himself a ruler of Moldavia between 1819 and 1821. Early life Michael was born as the youngest son and youngest child of Boyar Constantin Drakos-Soutzos (d. 1757) and his wife, Princess Maria Rossetti (b. 1702). Third ruler of Wallachia His predecessor, Alexander Mourouzis, frightened by the incursions of Osman Pazvantoğlu asked to be dismissed and for that, he paid money to the Ottoman authorities. In April 1801, Pazvantoğlu's troops continued their raids in Wallachia under the command of Manef Ibrahim, defeating the Ottoman Army despite having only a thousand horsemen, compared to the Ottoman side which had 8,000 troops. They took Râmnicu Vâlcea, Govora and moved toward Bucharest. By May 15, 1802 most of the inhabitants of the city fled toward Brașov and Vălenii de Munte.