Alexandros Rosios ( el, Αλέξανδρος Ρόσιος, 1917 — 30 August 2005), also known by the

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Ypsilantis (Υψηλάντης), was a member of the

Greek Communist Party The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

(KKE) and officer of the

Greek People's Liberation Army Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

(ELAS), and later the

Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...

(DSE). On the night of 30 March 1946, he led the attack on the

Greek Gendarmerie The Hellenic Gendarmerie (, ''Elliniki Chorofylaki'') was the national gendarmerie and military police (until 1951) force of Greece. History 19th century The Greek Gendarmerie was established after the enthronement of King Otto in 1833 as the ...

station in

Litochoro Litochoro ( el, Λιτόχωρο, ''Litóchoro''; Katharevousa: Λιτόχωρον) is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of the Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the Dio-O ...

, an event traditionally regarded as the starting point of the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

Life

He was born in

Siatista Siatista ( el, Σιάτιστα) is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Voio, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It ...

Kozani Prefecture Kozani ( el, Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Κοζάνης, Perifereiakí Enótita Kozánis) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia, in the geographic regions of Gree ...

, in 1917, the son of a schoolteacher. He graduated in philosophy from the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

, and also attended the School of Reserve Infantry Officers in

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, A ...

. In 1940–1941, he fought in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

as a lieutenant in the Greek Army. After the occupation of Greece by the Nazis in 1941, Rosios joined the left—wing National Liberation Front (EAM), and its military branch, the

(ELAS). He played an active role in both the Greek Resistance against the Nazis, and the subsequent civil war. His attack on the Gendarmerie station in

(where his group of guerrillas killed 12 gendarmes and 2 civilians) is traditionally regarded as the starting point of the

. After the communist defeat in the civil war, Rosios fled to the communist countries of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. During the 1950s he was a prominent member of KKE's exiled leadership and played an active role in ousting

Nikos Zachariadis Nikos Zachariadis ( el, Νίκος Ζαχαριάδης; 27 April 1903 – 1 August 1973) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1931 to 1956, and one of the most important personalities in the Greek Civil War. E ...

from power. Later however, he fell out with the leadership of Kostas Koligiannis, and in 1976, he returned to Greece and joined

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...

. (''AU̱TOI POU FEV̱GOUN:̱ O SIATISTINOS ALEKOS NIK. ROSIOS Í̱ KAPETAN YPSI̱LANTI̱S'') In the government of

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, wh ...

, he was appointed prefect of

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

. He died in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosios, Alexandros 1917 births 2005 deaths Communist Party of Greece politicians Exiles of the Greek Civil War in the Soviet Union National Liberation Front (Greece) members PASOK politicians People from Siatista Greek military personnel of World War II Democratic Army of Greece personnel Hellenic Army officers People of the Greco-Italian War