Fokas was born in Serres in 1886. His family was prominent in Serres with participation in the Macedonian Struggle and paid a heavy price with the kidnapping and murder of his brother Nestor by the Bulgarians in 1913.
He received a Ph.D. degree from the Medical School of the University of Athens in 1916 and in the same year he was named Second Lieutenant Physician reservist. In 1916 he married Eleni Em. Schina whom he had his only son with, Nestor.
Lieutenant Fokas participated for a long time in the Asia Minor campaign. On July 5th, 1921 as part of Army operations for surrounding and crushing the Kemalist army, Fokas served in a mixed task force consisted of the 14th Infantry Regiment and Cavalry Brigade, and especially in the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment. The task force was ordered to move towards the village of Outs Serai (Kutahya region) but not being aware of the powerful Turkish forces of two Infantry Divisions and a Cavalry Brigade there.
The sudden and brutal attack of the Turks initially brought confusion in the task force. However, the heroic defense of our soldiers quickly demeaned the Turks’ momentum. However, only when all the Turkish forces were involved in the battle and the danger of decapitation and cutting the escape route of our forces was visible, a retreat was ordered. It began from the 2nd Battalion which received the greatest pressure. Fokas, at that time, was in the operating room and was ordered to abandon his post. But he, according to the testimonies of his comrades, explicitly ruled out this possibility by saying that he would not leave the injured soldiers helpless and alone. It should also be noted that among the wounded there were many Turks, whose injuries he treated.
He believed that his opponents would respect his humanity and his vocation. But in the souls of the Turks there was nothing but hatred against the Greeks that Kemal had infused. As the Turks were accustomed to acts of violence (the Armenian massacre had preceded the Great War), they did not hesitate to exterminate the helpless wounded, while Fokas himself was massacred.
Officially, Fokas allegedly disappeared in Asia Minor during the battle of 05/07/1921.
After his death he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
The camp of the Hellenic Military Academy of Combat Support Officers has been named after him since 1980.