He was born in Zitsa in Epirus in 1843. His father was Dimitrios Tzetzis, probably a teacher. Through a bequest from Metropolitan Dositheos of Hungary, he studied at the University of Munich, graduating in 1874. He returned to his still enslaved homeland and was appointed a professor at the Zosimaia school.

He took part in the revolutionary movement of 1878 and after its failure he was forced to flee to Athens. He was appointed professor at the Varvakeio. He was president of the ‘Continental Brotherhood’, an active member of ‘Parnassus’ and a member of the ‘Philological Society of Constantinople’.