Thanasis Vagias

Thanasis Vagias (; ; 1765–1834) was a Greek governor in the newly founded Greek state, who had previously served as a counselor and confidant of Ali Pasha, the Muslim Albanian ruler of the Pashalik of Yanina.: "VAYIAS, Thanasis, 1765-1834, Epirot Greek, a confidant of Ali Pasha, wrongly thought by Makriyannis to be a betrayer of the Greek cause. Returned to Greece 1829 and given Government post by Capodistrias."Henry Holland M.D. F.R.S., Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia, Etc. During the Years 1812 and 1813, London 1816, p. 256.

Biography Thanasis Vagias was born in Lekël, Tepelenë.. He was the older brother of Loukas Vagias. His name had become notorious because, under Ali's service, he led an attack against the village of Kardhiq, near Gjirokaster, modern southern Albania. As a result of this operation, hundreds of men, women and children were killed.: "Thanasis Vayias, a man who allegedly led the hordes of Ali Pasha against a village of Epirus, Gardiki, resulting in the massacre of seven hundred men, women, and children." When the Greek War of Independence ended, Vagias moved to the newly founded Greek state and was given a government post and later acquired a pension, by the head of state of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias.

As a native of Epirus, Vagias proposed to Kapodistrias that Epirus should become part of Greece, but his plan was not accepted due to the difficult conditions the Greek revolution faced that time.

Legacy According to various authors, Vagias was wrongly regarded as a traitor of the Greek cause by various historians and authors of that period, like Ioannis Makrygiannis, Aristotelis Valaoritis, and Alexandre Dumas, père.: "Fear was nearly taking the place of mercy, words of pardon were on his lips, when a certain Athanasius Vaya [Vagias], a Greek schismatic, and a favourite of the pacha's, whose illegitimate son he was supposed to be, advanced at the head of the scum of the army, and offered to carry out the death sentence.". Valaoritis's masterpiece was titled Thanasis Vagias after him. In this work, Vagias is presented as a traitor, who after his death returns to his home place as a vampire. Additionally, one of the main characters of the Greek traditional shadow theatre, Karagiozis, is named Thanasis Vagias, who is a servant of Ali Pasha and is portrayed as a cowardly warrior..

Thanasis Vagias

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