Meletis Vasileiou ( el, Μελέτης Βασιλείου; c. 1778–1826) from

Chasia Chasia ( el, Χάσια) is a forested mountain range in the northern Trikala (Thessaly) and the southern Grevena (Western Macedonia) regional units, northern Greece. It is an eastern extension of the Pindus mountain range. The elevation of its ...

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

was a leader of the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

who contributed a lot to the organization of the revolutionary forces in Attica.ΚΕΝΙ: Μελέτης Βασιλείου.
/ref>

Biography

Arvanite Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settlers ...

, Vasileiou was born in about 1778 in

and was a member of a poor family of farmers. As a man with a great influence, he managed to secure privileges for the area that suffered under Ottoman misrule. Furthermore he was a member of the

Filiki Eteria Filiki Eteria or Society of Friends ( el, Φιλικὴ Ἑταιρεία ''or'' ) was a secret organization founded in 1814 in Odessa, whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek ...

,Spyridon Trikoupis �πυρίδων Τρικούπης Ιστορία της Ελληνικής Επαναστάσεως, 1860, vol.1, p.177. a secret 19th-century organization whose purpose was to overthrow the Ottoman rule of Greece and establish an independent Greek state. With the outbreak of the revolution, he managed to get permission to recruit men by tricking the Ottoman authorities pretending being loyal to them. On 18 April 1821 in Kalamos in Attica he fought the Ottoman troops coming from

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...

. A few days later he led the attack against Athens. More specifically, in the night between the 25th and 26 April 600 gunmen attacked the walls from the side between Agioi Apostoloi and the Boubounistra Gate and quickly managed to capture the entire city except

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

. During the summer of the same year, a serious dispute broke out between Vasileiou and the elders of Athens concerning the military leadership of Attica, after the arbitrary assumption of leadership by him on 14 June. The next day, Vasileiou became the target of an assassination attempt while, probably in retaliation, rebels looted the house of an Athenian notable.Municipality of Aspropyrgos, 1992, p.27. The situation appeared to smooth temporarily after the intervention of

Demetrios Ypsilantis Demetrios Ypsilantis (alternatively spelled Demetrius Ypsilanti; el, Δημήτριος Υψηλάντης, ; ro, Dumitru Ipsilanti; 1793August 16, 1832) was a Greek army officer who served in both the Hellenic Army and the Imperial Russian Ar ...

and the dispatch of the Vasileiou and his men to

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its lar ...

. However, later, he had a new conflict, this time with his compatriots, which according to one version, was triggered by the Athenian notables. From 1822 until 1825 Vasileiou was gradually promoted to the grades of deputy

chiliarch Chiliarch is a military rank dating back to antiquity. Originally denoting the commander of a unit of about one thousand men (a chiliarchy) in the Macedonian army, it was subsequently used as a Greek translation of a Persian officer who functioned ...

, chiliarch and eventually

taxiarch Taxiarch, the anglicised form of ''taxiarchos'' or ''taxiarchēs'' ( el, ταξίαρχος or ταξιάρχης) is used in the Greek language to mean "brigadier". The term derives from ''táxis'', "order", in military context "an ordered forma ...

. He took part in the battles of

Schimatari Schimatari ( el, Σχηματάρι) is a town and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tanagra, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area ...

, the Siege of the Acropolis and of Marathon, but also in the campaign of

Odysseas Androutsos Odysseas Androutsos ( el, Οδυσσέας Ανδρούτσος; 1788 – 1825; born Odysseas Verousis el, Οδυσσέας Βερούσης) was a Greek military and political commander in eastern mainland Greece and a prominent figure of the ...

in eastern Central Greece. Later, Vasileiou was appointed by

Yannis Gouras Yiannis Gouras ( el, Γιάννης Γκούρας; 1771 – 1826) was a Greece, Greek military leader during the Greek War of Independence. A cousin of Panourgias, he distinguished himself in the battles in eastern Continental Greece, but becam ...

in charge of levying the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

in Attica, thus rekindling local rivalries of previous years. In May 1826 Meletis Vasileiou was murdered by his compatriots, who in the raid of Omer Pasha of Karystos in Attica rushed to declare their surrender to him, due to a disagreement with the commandant of the Acropolis, Yannis Gouras.Spyridon Trikoupis, 1862, vol.4 (Δ’), p.57.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasileiou, Meletis 1770s births 1826 deaths People from Fyli Members of the Filiki Eteria Greek military leaders of the Greek War of Independence Assassinated Greek people People murdered in Greece People assassinated in the 19th century Arvanites People from the Ottoman Empire