He was born in
Siatista,
Kozani Prefecture, in 1917, the son of a schoolteacher. He graduated in philosophy from the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and also attended the School of Reserve Infantry Officers in
Syros. In 1940–1941, he fought in the
Greco-Italian War 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
Greek People's Liberation Army (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
Litochoro (where his group of guerrillas killed 12 gendarmes and 2 civilians) is traditionally regarded as the starting point of the
Greek Civil War. After the communist defeat in the civil war, Rosios fled to the communist countries of the
Eastern Bloc. During the 1950s he was a prominent member of KKE's exiled leadership and played an active role in ousting
Nikos Zachariadis from power. Later however, he fell out with the leadership of
Kostas Koligiannis, and in 1976, he returned to Greece and joined
PASOK. In the government of
Andreas Papandreou, he was appointed prefect of
Aetolia-Acarnania. He died in 2005. ==References==