Zicu Araia

Zicu A. Araia (1 July 1877 – 1948; Greek: Ζήκος Αράιας,^[1] Zíkos Aráias) was an Aromanian poet, schoolteacher and separatist leader. Born in Samarina in the Pindus mountains, Araia was an exception among the Aromanian writers who emigrated from their homeland, returning to the Pindus after two years in Romania and living there until his death. Araia was teacher at Romanian schools in the region for decades, he himself had been educated in such schools.

Araia's poetic production, although small in number, stands among the most important contributions to Aromanian literature. His poems focus on pastoral, folkloric and ethnographic aspects of the Aromanians, such as the lives of Aromanian shepherds or landscapes familiar to the Aromanians. Araia also played an important role in the two Aromanian separatist projects that took place in Greece in the 20th century: that of World War I, the self-declared canton in Samarina; and that of World War II, the Principality of the Pindus, with Araia having been an important partner and collaborator for prominent separatist Alcibiades Diamandi and the Italian occupation authorities.