He graduated in philosophy from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and also attended the School of Reserve Infantry Officers in Syros.

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.

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

[2] Later however, he fell out with the leadership of Kostas Koligiannis, and in 1976, he returned to Greece and joined PASOK.