Vassilis Christou Rapotikas (1888–1943; rup, Vasil Rapotika; el, Βασίλειος Χρήστου Ραποτίκας) was an Aromanian revolutionary and collaborationist paramilitary leader in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was among leaders of the

Roman Legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period o ...

of the short-lived

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

puppet state of

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres ...

, right behind

Alcibiades Diamandi Alcibiades Diamandi (13 August 1893 – 9 July 1948, sometimes spelled ''Diamanti'' or ''Diamantis''; rup, Alcibiadi Diamandi; el, Αλκιβιάδης Διαμάντης) was an Aromanian political figure of Greece and Axis collaborator, act ...

and

Nicolaos Matussis Nicolaos Matussis, also spelled as Nicolae Matussi ( el, Νικόλαος Ματούσης; 1899–1991), was an Aromanian lawyer, politician and leader of the Roman Legion, a collaborationist, separatist Aromanian paramilitary unit active durin ...

. This unit sought to carve out a permanent and independent Aromanian state in the Greek regions of

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

and Macedonia.British Reports on Greece 1943–1944
John Melior Stevens, Christopher Montague Woodhouse, David John Wallace, Lars Bærentzen, Museum Tusculanum Press, 1982, pp. 36–37 Rapotikas was killed in May or June 1943 by members 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 ...

near

Grizano Grizano ( el, Γριζάνο) is a village in the Trikala regional unit, Greece, part of the Farkadona municipality. In 2011 its population was 1,290. Grizano is located on the edge of the Thessalian Plain, north of Farkadona town, and east of ...

.Σταύρος Παπαγιάννης (Stavros Papayiannis), , 1999, 2004, p. 183

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapotikas, Vassilis 1888 births 1943 deaths Aromanian people Aromanian nationalists Aromanian military personnel Aromanian revolutionaries Greek collaborators with Fascist Italy Separatists Greek people of Aromanian descent Aromanians from the Ottoman Empire People from Kastoria (regional unit)